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June 26, 2009
Carbon Tax bill looks to squeak by in House vote
The final tally will be close but it appears that President Obama is going to get his jobs destroying, industry crippling "Climate Change" bill through the House.
The 1200 page monstrosity containing god only knows what draconian measures to save the world may be voted on today according to this story in the Washington Post by Paul Kane, Ben Pershing and David A. Fahrenthold:
The heart of the bill, which now runs to 1,201 pages, is a plan to reduce emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. To do that, it would create a cap-and-trade system, in which polluters would be required to accrue buyable, sellable credits for all the greenhouse gases they produce.
But the bill also contains a system of caveats, safety valves and rule changes meant to satisfy unhappy Democrats. The result is legislation that could transform the U.S. energy industry -- and allow both Wall Street and the Corn Belt to build a side business in carbon.
Yesterday, Democratic leaders said they had gathered enough votes to win passage of the bill, which could be voted on today or tomorrow.
"Well, you never know until you take the vote, but we are making progress, and I'm very pleased," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters at her weekly news conference. Democratic leaders said the vote could yet be delayed to tomorrow by a backup of floor action or by worries that they did not have enough "yea" votes.
But any talk of confidence is a sign of a remarkable turnabout for Democrats.
You can bet that those "caveats" will protect Democratic contributors in states where the tax ax is to fall the heaviest.
The real entertainment will come when these "carbon credits" go on the market. Then we'll see bidding wars with speculators ratcheting up the price who will then sell them to energy producers - who will then pass on the cost of these credits to us, the consumer.
It will be a long, cold winter here in Illinois.