Monday, June 29, 2009

While You Were Moonwalking

It was hard this weekend to turn on the TV and see something other than Michael Jackson. My favorite Republican called on Saturday very disturbed by the passing of the "cap and trade" bill (HR 2454) on Friday. I was unaware of the event. When asked for comment, I didn't have one related to the bill due to my ignorance of it's content. My main comment is that we have a $54 trillion bill to pay for our 27 year party, so we will be taxed in every which way. John McCain, if victorious, would have had no choice but to do the same. The tax approach might have appeared to be different, but the end result would have been the same. A "big party" calls for a "big hangover".

The bill is posted here. The ironic thing is that I went to the website last night to read the bill and I kept getting "Java script errors" and couldn't get full access.
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2454/text

The opposition states that the bill will have this effect:
1. Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $9.6 trillion
2. Destroy an average of 1-3 million jobs, every year
3. Raise electricity rates 90 percent after adjusting for inflation
4. Raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 74 percent
5. Raise residential natural gas prices by 55 percent
6. Raise an average family's annual energy bill by $1,500 annually
7. Increase the federal debt by 26 percent, which is $29,150 per person

The concept of "cap and trade" is:
"Under this system the government would set a mandatory limit on the amount of carbon emissions an entity can produce (the cap); and entities which produce below the limit, can sell their unused “credits” to other organizations which produce above the limit (the trade)."
Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-14783-Law-and-Politics-Examiner~y2009m6d25-Will-a-cap-and-trade-scheme-be-a-good-deal-for-us

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