Can you spell S.H.A.M.? Cap This!

If the following cap-and-trade scandal doesn't make you angry, I don't know what will.

...one of President Barack Obama's first acts was a memo to agencies demanding new transparency in government, and science...vowing that "the days of science taking a backseat to ideology are over." Except, that is, when it comes to Mr. Carlin, a senior analyst in the EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics and a 35-year veteran of the agency.

Mr. Carlin and a colleague presented a 98-page analysis arguing the agency should take another look, as the science behind man-made global warming is inconclusive at best. The analysis noted that global temperatures were on a downward trend. It pointed out problems with climate models. It highlighted new research that contradicts apocalyptic scenarios. "We believe our concerns and reservations are sufficiently important to warrant a serious review of the science by EPA," the report read.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute discovered emails from Mr. Carlin's boss telling him, basically, to shut up and forbidding him to speak about this again to anyone. Here's where the Obama administration, once again, is concealing information that the taxpayers and citizens of this country legally have a right to know:

Unlike annual reports, the Obama EPA's endangerment finding is a policy act. As such, EPA is required to make public those agency documents that pertain to the decision, to allow for public comment. Court rulings say rulemaking records must include both "the evidence relied upon and the evidence discarded." In refusing to allow Mr. Carlin's study to be circulated, the agency essentially hid it from the docket.

Unable to defend the EPA's actions, the climate-change crew -- , led by anonymous EPA officials -- is doing what it does best: trashing Mr. Carlin as a "denier." He is, we are told, "only" an economist (he in fact holds a degree in physics from CalTech). It wasn't his "job" to look at this issue (he in fact works in an office tasked with "informing important policy decisions with sound economics and other sciences.") His study was full of sham science. (The majority of it in fact references peer-reviewed studies.)

The EPA Silences A Climate Skeptic

Warren Buffet's warning:

The whole point of cap and trade -- which President Obama is careful not to make explicit -- is to make fossil fuels so expensive we will use less of them.

The president won't call this a tax. But his most prominent supporter in the business community, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, thinks it's one which will devastate an economy already in "shambles."

"It's a huge tax and there is no sense calling it anything else," Mr. Buffett said in a CNBC interview June 24.

Green Nonsense

President Obama is calling the climate bill that the House passed last week an "extraordinary" achievement, and so it is. The 1,200-page wonder manages the supreme feat of being both hugely expensive while doing almost nothing to reduce carbon emissions.

The Washington press corps is playing the bill's 219-212 passage as a political triumph, even though one of five Democrats voted against it. The real story is what Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House baron Henry Waxman and the President himself had to concede to secure even that eyelash margin among the House's liberal majority. Not even Tom DeLay would have imagined the extravaganza of log-rolling, vote-buying, outright corporate bribes, side deals, subsidies and policy loopholes. Every green goal, even taken on its own terms, was watered down or given up for the sake of political rents.

And finally:

Mr. Obama wants something tangible to take to the U.N. climate confab in Denmark in December, but the more important issue is what this exercise says about his approach to governance. The President seems to believe that the Carter and Clinton Presidencies failed by fighting too much with Democrats in Congress. So his solution is to abdicate his agenda to Congress -- first the stimulus, now cap and trade, and soon health care. We wish he had told us he was running to be Prime Minister.

The Carbonated Congress

BARACK OBAMA ANNOUNCED IN 2008 THAT HIS CAP & TRADE LEGISLATION WOULD CAUSE ELECTRICITY RATES TO SKYROCKET AND WOULD BANKRUPT THE COAL INDUSTRY...

...this year, he no longer cares.


SHAME: Eight Republicans Support Tyranny--Help Pass Climate Change House Bill

Obama thinks you are stupid...

...and here's why:

The Markey-Waxman "Cap-and-trade" Energy Tax bill

Patriots,

We've got a country to save. We wont be able to fight everything and win, but we can't let what happened with the $787 Billion stimulus pork 'n waste package happen again. But unless we mobilize now, it will.

The Markey-Waxman "Cap-and-trade" Energy Tax bill, in the current form being considered by the House Energy and Commerce committee, would, according to the Heritage Foundation, have the following catastrophic effects by 2035:

1. Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $9.6 trillion annually;

2. Destroy 1,105,000 American jobs per year on average, with peak years seeing unemployment rise by over 2,479,000 jobs;

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; and

7. Increase inflation-adjusted federal debt by 26 percent, or $29,150 additional federal debt per person, again after adjusting for inflation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants the U.S. House to vote at the end of this week on the Waxman-Markey National Energy Tax (House Bill 2454). We must kill the bill there, in the House of Representatives, before it reaches the Senate where it could passes with near certainty before being signed into law by the President.

We can't settle for calling our own representatives--especially if where you live, your Congressional Representative is a far-Left Liberal. We can't hope it'll be good enough if every single Republican in the House of Representatives votes against Waxman-Markey because Democrats have the majority.

We must target Democrats in order to stop this thing, but not just Any Democrats. Democrats that are moderate-to-moderately Conservative. Fortunately, they already identified themselves by forming the Blue Dog Coalition.

According to Wikipedia, their ideology (largely born out of the necessity to get votes in conservative regions like Texas and other southern states, and states in the heartland like Indiana), "the Blue Dog Coalition is often involved in finding a compromise between liberal and conservative positions. The Blue Dogs are viewed by some as a continuation of the socially conservative wing of the Democratic party prominent during the presidency of Harry S Truman.[citation needed] However, the only stated policy position of the Blue Dogs is fiscal conservatism...

"Despite the Blue Dogs' differing degrees of economic and social conservatism, they generally work to promote positions within the House of Representatives that bridge the gap between center-right and left-wing politics. Blue Dogs are an important swing vote on spending bills and as a result have gained influence in Congress out of proportion to their numbers. They are frequently sought after to broker compromises between the Democratic and Republican leadership, generally lending a more conservative character to US politics."

Here is a complete list of those sitting Representatives in the House, and their telephone numbers. We need to call 'em up, ASAP, and tell them to vote NO on H.R. 2454.

All numbers, area code 202:

* Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration
225-2801
* Baron Hill (IN-9), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
225-5315
* Charlie Melancon (LA-3), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
225-4031
* Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip
225-6401

* Jason Altmire (PA-4), 225-2565
* Mike Arcuri (NY-24), 225-3665
* John Barrow (GA-12), 225-2823
* Marion Berry (AR-1), 225-4076
* Sanford Bishop (GA-2), 225-3631
* Dan Boren (OK-2), 225-2701
* Leonard Boswell (IA-3), 225-3806
* Allen Boyd (FL-2), 225-5235
* Bobby Bright (AL-2), 225-2901
* Christopher Carney (PA-10), 225-3731
* Ben Chandler (KY-6), 225-4706
* Travis Childers (MS-1), 225-4306
* Jim Cooper (TN-5), 225-4311
* Henry Cuellar (TX-28), 225-1640
* Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3), 225-5406
* Lincoln Davis (TN-4), 225-6831
* Joe Donnelly (IN-2), 225-3915
* Brad Ellsworth (IN-8), 225-4636
* Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8), 225-2542
* Bart Gordon (TN-6), 225-4231
* Parker Griffith (AL-5), 225-4801
* Tim Holden (PA-17), 225-5546
* Frank Kratovil (MD-1), 225-5311
* Jim Marshall (GA-8), 225-6531
* Jim Matheson (UT-2), 225-3011
* Mike McIntyre (NC-7), 225-2731
* Mike Michaud (ME-2), 225-6306
* Walt Minnick (ID-1), 225-6611
* Harry Mitchell (AZ-5), 225-2190
* Dennis Moore (KS-3), 225-2865
* Patrick Murphy (PA-8), 225-4276
* Glenn Nye (VA-2), 225-4215
* Collin Peterson (MN-7), 225-2165
* Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL), 225-2611
* Mike Ross (AR-4), 225-3772
* John Salazar (CO-3), 225-4761
* Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), 225-2965
* David Scott (GA-13), 225-2939
* Zack Space (OH-18), 225-6265
* John Tanner (TN-8), 225-4714
* Gene Taylor (MS-4), 225-5772
* Charlie Wilson (OH-6), 225-5705
* Melissa Bean (IL-8), 225-3711
* Mike Thompson (CA-1), 225-3311
* Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), 225-6131
* Jim Costa (CA-20), 225-3341
* Adam Schiff (CA-29), 225-4176
* Jane Harman (CA-36), 225-8220
* Joe Baca (CA-43), 225-2823

It would take a little over three hours to call of these numbers straight through, so feel free to break it up. Just be sure to call as many as you can as soon as you can, especially the numbers at the top!

Feel free to modify this script to suit what feels comfortable to you. It runs about a minute and 42 seconds.

"Good morning,

My name is and I'm calling about the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade bill that the Speaker of the House is urging a vote on as soon as possible, an issue that affects all Americans and not just those in your district. Like those Americans, I care deeply about the environment and being responsible as we try to re-grow our prosperity in this country, but I strongly feel this bill is the wrong way to do it.

According to credible economists and their peer-reviewed academic research, this piece of legislation will kick our economy while it's down. At a time when we should be doing everything we can to make this the best place in the world for people to come and start a business, and create jobs, we're going to make energy so incredibly expensive that they can't afford to hire anyone. And for families already struggling-whether by having to string together two-part time jobs or get by on unemployment-they will see their gasoline, heating and electricity bills shoot through the roof.

I know the sponsors of this bill have said otherwise, but I am telling you, I know other wise. And I am also telling Representative to vote against this legislation. There aren't too many issues more important than this one, and I'm afraid that how each Representative votes on this bill will matter to me and everyone that I know when it's time for us to vote during the mid-term elections next November, 2010.

Thank you for your time."

And for good measure, give Republican House minotiry leader John Boehner's office at a call at (202) 225-6205 to reinforce, and remind his staffer that we're out here, watching, and that we wont tolerate any give from the party in the House on this bill. Remind his staffer that his and their re-election counts on standing strong against this bill.

I truly hope that you'll join me in my mission to stop this madness, and tell everyone you know to help you too.

Thank you for your time.

Dairenn Lombard, Los Angeles
http://dlombard.livejournal.com/

What's wrong with Obama?

As His Agenda Collapses On Capitol Hill, Obama Hopes For Press Conference Hail Mary Today

NBC's Chuck Todd: "The honeymoon is coming to an end for President Obama, but it's not personal. It's professional, as now the public appears to be judging the president on some of his actions." (NBC's "Nightly News," 6/17/09)

AMERICANS FEEL "STICKER SHOCK" OF OBAMA'S GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE PLAN

CBO Concludes Democrat Plan Increases Federal Deficit By $1 Trillion And Counting Over Next Decade. "[E]nacting the proposal would result in a net increase in federal budget deficits of about $1.0 trillion over the 2010-2019 period. ... It is important to note, however, that those figures do not represent a formal or complete cost estimate for the draft legislation ..." (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Congressional Budget Office Director, Letter to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, 6/15/09)

Democrats' Plan Fails To Insure 36 Million Americans. "The analysis says that the number of uninsured Americans, now estimated at around 50 million, would decrease to about 36 million once the bill was fully implemented." ("CBO: Senate Bill $1 Trillion Over 10 Years," The Associated Press, 6/15/09)

House Democrats Have "Lots Of Potential Targets For Higher Taxes" To Pay For Government-Run Health Care. "House Democrats have lots of potential targets for higher taxes as they aim to expand health care coverage to reach the roughly 50 million that experts say are uninsured. Also under consideration are higher alcohol taxes, increases to the Medicare payroll tax and a value-added tax, a sort of national sales tax, of up to 1.5 percent or more ... The [other] tax options include: increasing the price of soda and other sugary drinks by 10 cents a can, applying a potential 2 percent income tax increase to single taxpayers earning more than $200,000 a year and households earning more than $250,000, a new employer payroll tax could target 3 percent of employers' health care expenditures, taxing employer-provided health insurance benefits above certain levels ... House Democrats planned to unveil a draft of their sweeping health care bill Friday ... The draft, being released at a news conference ... was not expected to mention the potentially unpopular tax options." (Erica Werner, "House Eyes New Taxes As Senators Pare Health Bill," The Associated Press, 6/19/09)

CBO Director Says Plans For Government-Run Health Care Would Worsen Budget Outlook. "President Obama's plan to expand health coverage to the uninsured is likely to dig the nation deeper into debt unless policymakers adopt politically painful controls on spending, such as sharp reductions in payments to doctors, hospitals and other providers, congressional budget analysts said yesterday ... 'Without meaningful reforms, the substantial costs of many current proposals . . . would be much more likely to worsen the long-run budget outlook than to improve it,' he said. ..." (Lori Montgomery, Shailagh Murray And Ceci Connolly, "Obama's Health Plan Needs Spending Controls, CBO Says," The Wash ington Post, 6/17/09)

Public Knows That Obama Has No Plan To Deal With Deficits. "A substantial majority of Americans say President Obama has not developed a strategy to deal with the budget deficit, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll ... Six in 10 people surveyed said the administration has yet to develop a clear plan for dealing with the deficit, including 65 percent of independents." (Jeff Zeleny and Dalia Sussman, "Obama Poll Sees Doubt on Budget and Health Care," The New York Times, 6/17/09)

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS AT WAR OVER OBAMA'S NATIONAL ENERGY TAX

Democrats Balking At Job-Killing National Energy Tax. "[S]everal Democratic aides noted that with the economy in a deep recession, many vulnerable Democrats might be loath to vote for anything that could be blamed for higher utility bills. 'With the economy the way that it is, I don't know that there's going to be the stomach to pass a bill that might raise people's utility and gas rates,' one Senate Democratic staffer said." (Emily Pierce & Steven T. Dennis, "House Climate Bill Facing Senate Headwinds," Roll Call, 5/18//09)

No Agreement Among Democrats Despite Pressure From Obama Administration. "House Democrats still lack agreement on key details of a comprehensive global warming and energy bill despite intervention from several top Obama administration officials..." (Darren Samuelsohn, "House Climate Bill Remains In Holding Pattern," The New York Times, 6/22/09)

Dem Leadership Attempting To Ram Bill Through Without Consulting Fellow Rank-And-File Democrats. "And significantly, four conservative Blue Dog Democrats - Reps. Mike Ross (Ark.), John Barrow (Ga.), Charlie Melancon (La.), and Jim Matheson (Utah) - voted against the bill in committee, which could portend trouble for it on the House floor and in the Senate. Ross and other Blue Dogs had complained loudly that Waxman and other key Democrats did not bring them in early enough in the drafting of the health care or cap-and-trade bills." (Steven T. Dennis, "Democrats Plan an Offensive; Leaders Looking to Legislate," Roll Call, 5/26/09)

Discussions Among House Democrats "Blew Up." "House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) on Friday said climate change bill negotiators are heading back to the drawing board after discussions between Democrats 'blew up last night' ... 'It's a whole new concept being brought in at the last minute,' said Collin Peterson (D- MN). 'Many didn't like it ... I'm tired of this running around in circles.'" (Jennifer Bendery, "Peterson: Democrats Back to Square One on Climate Bill," Roll Call, 6/19/09)

OBAMA'S STIMULUS ISN'T "CREATING OR SAVING" JOBS

In January, Administration Report Said Unemployment Would Only Reach 8 Percent This Year With Stimulus. "In January, the incoming administration predicted in a white paper study that without a huge stimulus package, unemployment would reach just over 8%, and would be contained at under 8% with a stimulus package." (Jake Tapper, "President Obama Predicts Unemployment Will Hit 10% This Year," ABC News' "Political Punch" Blog, 6/16/09)

But Now Obama Says Unemployment Will Reach 10 Percent This Year. AL HUNT OF BLOOMBERG: "Do you think that unemployment will reach 10%?" PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: "Yes." HUNT: "This year?" OBAMA: "Yes." (Bloomberg, 6/16/09)

Associated Press: Obama's Claim That Stimulus Has Saved 150,000 Jobs "So Murky It Can Never Be Verified." "Obama faces souring public opinion over his handling of the economy, which has shed 1.6 million jobs since the stimulus was signed in February. That total has far overshadowed White House announcements estimating the effort has saved 150,000 jobs, a figure that is so murky it can never be verified." (Brett J. Blackledge & Matt Apuzzo, "Spin Meter: Obama's New 'Accelerated' Recovery Plan Is Neither New Nor Accelerated," The Associated Press, 6/9/09)

Majority Of Americans Say Obama Economic Policies Have No Effect Or Make Conditions Worse. "[W}ith fewer than half of Americans saying they approve of how he has handled health care and the effort to save General Motors and Chrysler. A majority of people said his policies have had either no effect yet on improving the economy or had made it worse ..." (Jeff Zeleny, "Obama Poll Sees Doubt on Budget and Health Care", The New York Times, 6/17/09)

EXPERTS, DEMOCRATS AND MEDIA CRITICIZE OBAMA'S FINANCIAL REGULATION PLAN

Simon Johnson, Senior Fellow At Peterson Institute For International Economics: History Proves We Should Not Give Federal Reserve More Power. "First and foremost, [Obama] says the Federal Reserve will become the official 'system risk regulator'... But in principle the Fed had exactly this kind of leadership role before -- and under both Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke it was a reckless cheerleader and facilitator for the unsustainable real estate boom. If the Fed had been stronger before, the crisis now would be worse." (Simon Johnson, "The Defanging Of Obama's Regulation Plan," The New York Times' "Economix" Blog, 6/18/09)

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA): Giving One Institution Too Much Power Dangerous. "We have resisted creating an all powerful central bank to this point, and the experiences of countries which have concentrated too much power in one entity serve as cautionary tales. The Fed and Treasury over the past year struck "private deals" with the largest and most powerful financial institutions that put smaller, less powerful institutions "at a competitive disadvantage. An old African proverb says that when elephants dance, the grass gets trampled. We've got a trampled grass problem now. I don't think we can solve it with bigger elephants -- whether they are regulators or institutions." (Sudeep Reddy, "Sen. Warner Proposes 'Systemic Risk' Council," T he Wall Street Journal's "Real Time Economics" Blog, 6/16/09)

Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA): Giving Power To Federal Reserve Means Little To No Accountability. "I'm concerned about giving all this additional power to the Fed, while at least the Federal Reserve's 12 branches are not even governmental entities. Their boards are selected by bank executives and are not responsive to the electorate in this democracy." (MSNBC's "Live," 6/17/09)

USA Today Editorial: Obama's Plan Will Create Bureaucratic Turf Wars. "The most worrisome aspect of Obama's plan -- which would create both a Consumer Financial Protection Agency and a Financial Services Oversight Council -- is its potential to spawn turf wars and bureaucratic bloat." (Editorial, "Our View On Preventing Economic Excess: Obama Plugs Financial Holes, But Opens Door To Bloat," USA Today, 6/18/09)

Associated Press: Obama's Plan Will Not Improve Efficiency. "[T]he plan would do little to streamline the alphabet soup of agencies that oversee the financial sector..." (Jim Kuhnhenn & Martin Crutsinger, "New Financial Rules: Major Changes For Big, Small," The Associated Press, 6/17/09)

BROKEN PROMISES: OBAMA NOT LIVING UP TO HIS WORD ON TRANSPARENCY

OBAMA PLEDGED: "When There Is A Bill That Ends Up On My Desk As President, You Will Have Five Days To Look Online And Find Out What's In It Before I Sign it." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: Taking Our Government Back, Manchester, NH, 6/22/07)

BUT NOW: Obama "Has Almost Never" Waited Five Days Before Signing Legislation. "During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised that once a bill was passed by Congress, the White House would post it online for five days before he signed it... Five months into his administration, Mr. Obama has signed two dozen bills, but he has almost never waited five days." (Katharine Q. Seelye, "White House Changes The Terms Of A Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online," The New York Times, 6/22/09)

OBAMA PLEDGED: "My Administration Is Committed To Creating An Unprecedented Level Of Openness In Government." (President Barack Obama, "Memorandum For The Heads Of Executive Departments And Agencies: Transparency and Open Government," Press Release, 1/21/09)

BUT NOW: Obama Administration Refuses To Disclose White House Visitors Logs After Meeting Privately With Coal Executives. "[L]ast week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's 'clean coal' policies... The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclo sure." (Michael Isikoff, "Obama Closes Doors On Openness," Newsweek, 6/20/09)

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