Posted: June 26th, 2009 | Author: Adam Macchi | Filed under: Economy, Politics | Tags: Cap and Trade, Climate Change, Democrats, House Energy Committee, Republicans, Tax | No Comments »
From the Wall Street Journal,
“Even as Democrats have promised that this cap-and-trade legislation won’t pinch wallets, behind the scenes they’ve acknowledged the energy price tsunami that is coming. During the brief few days in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee, Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them.
The reality is that cost estimates for climate legislation are as unreliable as the models predicting climate change. What comes out of the computer is a function of what politicians type in. A better indicator might be what other countries are already experiencing. Britain’s Taxpayer Alliance estimates the average family there is paying nearly $1,300 a year in green taxes for carbon-cutting programs in effect only a few years.
Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history. Even Democrats can’t repeal that reality.”
Posted: February 13th, 2009 | Author: Adam Macchi | Filed under: Economy, Politics | Tags: Democrats, Republicans, The Stimulus Bill | 2 Comments »
WARNING: You may need to listen to a little George Benson while reading this post.
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“Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you couldn’t do before.”
– White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel
The Stimulus Bill, or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, contains $789 Billion in spending and is 1419 pages long. The people voting on the bill did not get a copy of it until 11 p. m. last night. They’ll have had less than 24 hours to read it and will vote on it later today. Why the rush?
The average person reads and comprehends 250 words per minute. On average there are 400 words per typed page. That’s .625 pages per minute or 900 pages in a 24 hour period.
Without a break. Without asking questions.
I know most people simply don’t care. But remember, this bill will saddle our children with so much debt they will not even be able to pay off the interest in their lifetimes. With interest calculated over the next ten years, this bill will cost upwards of around $2.7 trillion. Twenty-four hours is a small price compared to that, much too small.
(Amended – Spicy) Senate “Compromise” Version – 2/7/2009 – a robust and powerful 1419 pages.
(Original – Crispy) House Version H.R. 1 – 1/28/2009 – a measly 648 pages.
These are the individuals responsible for the passage of this bill.
UPDATE – 2:30 p.m. – House passes bill with no Republican votes and 6 Democrats voting against.
UPDATE – 5:30 p.m. – Senate passes conference.