House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D., Beverly Hills) has struck a deal, along with “Global Warming” Committee Chair Ed Markey (D., People’s Republic of Massachusetts), which is being hailed by media outlets today as a “breakthrough” — even the Washington Times lamely calls it “a compromise bill,” after all Democrats were summoned to the White House on the matter.
Wha? Gosh, that’s impressive, when the Left and Far Left are able to bridge their differences. Now comes the harder part, as we shall see that this breakthrough still leaves them short of a House (let alone Senate) majority. They’ve got the numbers. With the sun about to shine on this scheme, they’ll see they don’t, in the end, have the votes.
Mr. Waxman claimed that both environmentalist groups and industry groups will support it. Well, he means the ones to whom he gave goodies — in the form, respectively, of provisions and appropriations to keep the greens’ litigation practices going; and free ration coupons, mandates, and subsidies to rent-seeking coalitions (not exactly the Chamber, NFIB, and NAM, as the phraseology would have you believe).
Some details wafting out of last night meeting helpfully reveal who among those threatened by the bill were able to get sops and freebies for the first few years in order to buy their support for nailing you with a massive energy tax. Bear in mind that the following list of greased palms represents not the universe of those threatened by the tax, but those constituencies getting some share of the ration coupons to allow them to escape some tax liability — you will pick up the slack — or else to sell their tax-abatement coupons to others with insufficient lobbying operations or who had the temerity to expand their business and thus their emissions:
Electrical utilities get 35 percent of the ration coupons; natural gas 9 percent; home heating oil/propane 1.5 percent; low-income consumers 15 percent; autos 3 percent through 2017, 1 percent through 2025; “trade vulnerable industries” 15 percent. That should leave roughly a fifth to a quarter of the rations coupons to dole out or to fill the government’s wallet, rather than the rent-seekers’ — either way, it’s your pocket that’s being picked.
You’ll notice that you weren’t at the table. At least you should be comforted by the fact that, if it really were warming, they might tax you even more.
Members of Congress will not have had the opportunity to digest the thousand pages it took to lay out this scheme. Tomorrow we’ll see opening statements in support of yet another bill to drain billions and billions from taxpayers that the Members haven’t read yet. In fact, a different version of what they’re expected to begin receiving tomorrow is also expected to come later.
Yep, a thousand pages to hide a tax — I’m sorry, “allowances.” You’re seven again, and the state is your mommy.
The most amusing angle, being reported the same way by every story I’ve read — indicating not an awful lot of critical thought occurs between being given the talking points and printing them up — is that “Allowances will also be doled out to auto manufacturers to help them develop cleaner cars.”
And, how do free ration coupons help you develop cleaner cars? The Washington Times writes the same thing, with an only slightly more edifying twist, “The bill would give free allowances to the auto industry to help pay for energy-efficient technology.” Oh, so they’re currency. If only I had been given some ration coupons, too, I might learn who takes them as payment. Ah. Wait. That actually means the tax scheme gives these to companies to sell to people who want to use energy, with the proceeds to pay for things the auto companies will need to do under these schemes.
Once again we are reminded: companies don’t pay taxes, people pay taxes. And to the extent that companies are forced to pay, as Europe’s experience has amply demonstrated, they will leave.
Sick of Washington yet?