Cap and Trade

A vote will be held on 6/26/09 to discharge the “Cap and Trade” legislation from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and will send this bill to the House floor for a vote. This bill would enact the largest tax increase in the history of the US. Estimates of the taxes and mandated costs range from $800 billion to $2 trillion dollars over the life of the bill. The official title of this bill is H.R. 2454, American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. This bill is also known as the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill.

Raising taxes may be the least damaging aspect of this bill. This law will give the Federal Government the authority to set the level of production across all industries. Socialists have always wanted to set the level of wages and production to control the economy. The bill to repeal union certification elections will allow the government to set wages. Now the cap and trade legislation will provide the means to set production. The USA will finally become a “workers’ paradise”.

This bill also provides a provision which imposes stiff tariffs on our trading partners if they don't adopt aggressive carbon restrictions of their own. Thus solving one of the great dilemmas suffered by organized labor, “how do we eliminate foreign competition?” This is the 21st century equivalent to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. The Waxman-Markey will by itself recreate 2 of the 3 policies of the 1930’s that caused the great depression, 1 - raise taxes and 2 - start a trade war. Brilliant!

The following is an enlightening discussion:

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10313

The complete wording of the bill is at the following link:

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2454ih.txt.pdf

See the cost estimate for this legislation at the Congressional Budget Office website:

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/102xx/doc10262/hr2454.pdf

Take action against this bill:

http://ga1.org/campaign/0906capandtradetaxhike