This first year of his Presidency looks like it has taken a toll on him.
9-12-2009 the day History was made in the United States and it happened in our Capitol where the laws are made…DC! It was called the 9-12 Tea Party and it was huge, what ever the numbers, Police and Park officials estimate the crowd between 1 and 2 million…liberals have obviously downplayed it over the weekend as Conservative Blogger Michelle Malkin reports on her blog.
I followed the updates from DC on Twitter from the ladies at Smart Girl Politics, Tabitha Hale, Rebecca Wales and many others who were out in DC participating in the event. Tabitha and Rebecca did a wonderful job informing those who could not attend and they got the message out loud and clear. You can see the photos from Tabitha’s page here and here.
Whatever your thoughts on this Tea Party, remember this one thing, people are ticked off and they are not going to take this Government spending spree, shove down your throat Health Care and raise your energy taxes Cap and Trade! We as a people are tired of being pushed around and I can tell you that I will do everything that I can to get the right Candidates in office to do the right thing for our Country.
Whatever your opinion on this 9-12 party…this will go down in the history books as one of the largest events in DC as far as a protest goes. I am disappointed I missed it, but I know and have a feeling their will be another one soon! So keep up the fight y’all and fight hard!
Thanks to all of those who kept us updated through Twitter and Facebook!
Henry Alford CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce was on Capitol Hill today to speak to the Senate about Cap and Trade. Well he checked Sen. Boxer and rightfully so. Check out the video yourself, you can also check out the Study they did concerning Cap and Trade here
Quote in the title from Vodkapundit.
Despite a valiant effort by John Boehner to use the expanded prerogatives of the Minority Leader position to filibuster the vote, Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives have passed cap and trade legislation.
Video of a particular highlight of Boehner’s effort is below.
The final margin for passage was 219 to 212.
Eight Republicans were the margin for the bill’s passage. Two Hoosier Democrats–Baron Hill and Andre Carson–also voted for it and provided invaluable assistance in putting this new national energy tax over the top. Even Pete Visclosky voted against it (its provisions will kill industry in his district).
In a curious quirk, Baron Hill voted against bringing the legislation to a vote before he voted to make it the law of the land. No doubt he will seek to use the contradictory votes to again confuse the 9th District electorate; somehow I think that they won’t be fooled this time.
FiveThirtyEight breaks down a low-ball estimate of the cost of the legislation by state; by their math Hoosier households will pay $211 more a year.
By the math of my local electric company–when asked by the local newspaper that used to be owned by Democratic Governor Frank O’Bannon–the average Hoosier electric bill will increase by $50 a month if this legislation becomes law. Bill proponents claim that this amount will be reduced by recent amendments, but I have seen nothing substantive to actually back up that assertion.
The most common amount cited is that of $3,100, produced from an academic study by MIT.
Power Line even has a map about which states will pay and which will benefit from the legislation. With two exceptions (Idaho and South Dakota), every state that will benefit from the legislation will be a blue state either on the west coast or in the northeast. Flyover country gets screwed.
Regardless of the range, the costs of this legislation are very real. You can figure the cost in the immediate amount that your electric bill will go up ($50 a month) or in the costs you will pay when prices for everything go up as producers and businesses are inevitably forced to pass taxes on to consumers ($3,100 by some estimates).
Eight Republicans voted for this monstrosity.
They are:
Mary Bono Mack [California 45]
Mike Castle [Delaware]
Mark Kirk [Illinois 10]
Leonard Lance [New Jersey 7]
Frank LoBiondo [New Jersey 2]
John McHugh [New York 23]
Dave Reichert [Washington 8]
Christopher Smith [New Jersey 4]
Three of the YEA Republicans came from New Jersey (Lance, LoBiondo, Smith).
Two came from likely 2010 Senate candidates (Castle and Kirk).
One came from Obama’s future Secretary of the Army (McHugh).
And two Republicans, Jeff Flake and John Sullivan, did not vote at all.
Forty-four brave Democrats, including three Indiana Democrats (Donnelly, Ellsworth, and Visclosky) opposed the legislation.
Had those Republicans had that sort of fortitude, this bill would have died in the House. Now it goes to the Senate, where it will hopefully meet its end.
The final vote just took place – Cap and Tax just passed the House by a 219-212 vote.
As soon as the tally is posted to house.gov the Indiana delegation votes will be posted here.
UPDATE:
Vote is posted HERE
Indiana’s Delegation:
1st – Visclosky (D) – NO
2nd – Donnelly (D) – NO
3rd – Souder (R) – NO
4th – Buyer (R) – NO
5th – Burton (R) – NO
6th – Pence (R) – NO
7th – Carson (D) – AYE
8th – Ellsworth (D) – NO
9th – Hill (D) – AYE
This comes from Doug Theis of Lifeline Data Centers.
“At Lifeline Data Centers, we are always looking at ways to be more efficient with electricity to keep our customers’ rates as low as possible. Accordingly, we keep a finger on the pulse of energy and have kept close tabs on the Cap and Trade bill currently in the US House.
We at Lifeline encourage you to read and act on the following article from the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124588837560750781.html [Dead Link]
Here are the important points, but please read the article and understand its ramifications:
- Cap and Trade is a tax on energy that will be passed through to the consumer, or the people that can least afford to pay for it.
- Cap and Trade, as it stands today, will cost every family about $6,800 per year at full rollout.
In another analysis from Heritage Foundation, the average cost of power will go up 45% with Cap and Trade. This means that your personal electric bill at home will increase 45% and the power bill associated with every product you use or purchase will go up 45%. We all know that manufacturers simply pass that cost on down to the consumer. This is the source of the $6,800 per year increase per family calculation.
We all need to continually pursue energy efficiency. Complete energy efficiency, in Lifeline’s opinion, will not be met until we have discovered a source of pure energy that does not require a mechanical source of production. Until then, one thing we know is that a burdensome tax will not help with the birth of that new energy source technology.
[emphasis added by me]
This has NOTHING to do with alternative energy production, or creating “green” jobs unless you’re referring to bureaucrats in DC to count the tax money coming in the door, or changing the climate of the earth. This is just another tax. A tax which will send even more jobs to countries where environmental laws are non-existent or if they exist are ignored. Nations like China and Mexico.
Of course who needs jobs when you have free Government Health Care, right? Yep. The Government manages health care *cough* VA *cough* so well they want everyone to participate.
“Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” — Barack Obama, January 17, 2008, San Francisco Chronicle
Contact your Congressman today! The contact numbers are below the video. The House will be voting on Cap and Trade today.
Pete Visclosky – (219) 795-1844 or (888) 423-PETE (toll-free)
Joe Donnelly – (574) 288-2780
Mark Souder – 1-800-959-3041
Steve Buyer – (574) 583-9819
Dan Burton – (317) 848-0201
Mike Pence – (765) 640-2919
Andre Carson – (317) 283-6516
Brad Ellsworth – (812) 465-6484
Baron Hill – (812) 288-3999
I know I am on my soapbox lately on Cap and Trade, but I am personally sick and tired of the tax and spend policies coming out of DC. Cap and Trade is one those issues. Recently I wrote a Letter to the Editor for the IndyStar and Bloomington Herald, which I don’t believe has been posted yet, but will see what the response is, you can read that letter here.
Then a co-worker of mine led me to this Op-Ed by Congressmen Hill from the 9th Congressional District here in Indiana. You can read the full Op-Ed here. In the Op-Ed he states we all need to find “common ground” and “prevent from spiking utility rates” Congressman Hill, are you kidding me? Also, the comments are a must read.
This recent post by my friend Scott tells a different story, in it he states our utility rates will go up at least $3,100 and that is by one MIT study. You can read the full post by Scott here. Congressmen Hill for once in your career as a Representive of the Southern District of Indiana and for the rest of the Country, vote against this poor…poor piece of Legislation when it hits the House floor for a full vote, will you stand up to your own party and tell them NO? This will not help the Hoosier state and you know it, but it seems to me you really could care less.
Their are so many studies out here on Cap and Trade that it would scare you what this will cost the taxpayers and our economy. We cannot afford this and Congress knows it, but could care less. When someone tells me Democrats are more fiscially responsible then Republicans….I wanna just laugh (and most of the time I do). It is obvious the Democrats in Congress have no clue of what they are doing and honestly neither does the President!
List of Studies here:
National Black Chamber of Commerce
Op-Ed from the Washington Examiner here
