The Waxman-Markey Fiasco

Last night the House of Representatives passed the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009” (H.R. 2454), more appropriately known as the “Cap and Tax bill.” The vote was extremely close, 219-212. Many groups, including the ERLC, worked feverishly to prevent passage of this monstrosity. In fact, on Thursday, even leading Democrats were saying they didn’t think they had the votes. But at 3 a.m. Friday morning, the Democrats added 300 pages of amendments to the bill by way of the Manager’s Amendment, essentially add-ons arranged behind closed doors that are included as a package. The majority of the contents of the Manager’s Amendment consisted of deals the Democrats cut to get enough votes to pass their Cap and Tax bill.

The floor debate lasted more than 3 hours. It was deplorable. If you want to see just how broken our legislative process is, all you need to do is watch those proceedings. The effort by Joe Barton and a few other congressmen to get Chair Ellen Tauscher to answer some basic questions about the whereabouts of the Manager’s Amendment so members could consult it was heroic. It was shocking to see such willingness on the part of Democrat leadership to be so obstructive. No one had opportunity to read the bill in its final form before the vote was taken. In fact, the pages of the Manager’s Amendment were being hand-collated into the bill on the floor during the debate!

One of the most interesting moments occurred when John Boehner displayed a chart that showed just how intrusive, bureaucratic, and unmanageable the program authorized by the bill would be. You can view the chart here, http://erlc.com/documents/pdf/WaxmanMarkey.pdf, but be prepared to be thoroughly baffled. It’s not a problem with the chart, but of the program this Cap and Tax plan is going to birth.

It’s impossible to describe fully the way in which this bill will change life for everyone in this country. I had two of the ERLC interns compile a brief list of some of the negative impacts of the policies contained in the bill. Here is a sample of what they catalogued:

Negative Impacts of the Bill:

1. Indeed, the Waxman-Markey Bill would be the largest tax increase in world history.[1]
2. It is a tax on all Americans, even the 95% that President Obama pledged would never see a tax increase.[2]
3. Independent economic studies have estimated the costs from $1,500 to more than $3,000 per year for the average family.[3]
4. Total GDP loss by 2035 would equal $9.4 trillion.
5. The national debt would balloon, saddling a family of four with $114,915 of additional national debt.
6. Unemployment will increase by nearly 2 million in 2012, the first year of the program.[4] The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines mass layoffs as "…where employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days." Under Waxman-Markey,a on verage each congressional district would experience the equivalent of more than 52 mass layoffs.”
7. Further analysis of the economic impact projects that by 2035 the bill would raise electricity rates 90 percent after adjusting for inflation; raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 58 percent; and raise residential natural gas prices by 55 percent.[5]

I can’t remember when I have been more disappointed in our Congress. Yesterday’s fiasco disgraced our Founding Fathers. Those who voted for this bill should be forced to give a full accounting to the millions of families their pathetic behavior has jeopardized.

I have included below the list of Republicans who voted for the Waxman-Markey Cap and Tax bill. If one of these people is your congressman, you may want to have a long conversation with him of her. I have also included the list of Democrats who could not be bought. If one of these people is your congressman, you may want to speak a word of thanks. If you don’t see a particular Republican name in the Republican list, it means he or she voted no. If you don’t see a particular Democrat name in the Democrat list, it means he or she voted yes. And there were three who couldn’t make up their minds and didn’t vote at all, Flake (R-AZ), Hastings (D-FL), and Sullivan (R-OK).

You may want to be careful with how effusive you are in thanking those who voted against the bill, however. Believe it or not, some voted no because they don’t think the bill does enough to stop global warming!

Republicans who voted for the Waxman-Markey Cap and Tax Global Warming bill:

Bono Mack (CA), Castle (DE), Kirk (IL), Lance (NJ), LoBiondo (NJ), McHugh (NY), Reichert (WA), Smith (NJ).

Democrats who voted against the Waxman-Markey Cap and Tax Global Warming bill:

Altmire (PA), Arcuri (NY), Barrow (GA), Berry (AR), Boren (OK), Bright (AL), Carney (PA), Childers (MS), Costa (CA), Costello (IL), Dahlkemper (PA), Davis (AL), Davis (TN), DeFazio (OR), Donnelly (IN), Edwards (TX), Ellsworth (IN), Foster (IL), Griffith (AL), Herseth Sandlin (SD), Holden (PA), Kirkpatrick (AZ), Kissell (NC), Kucinich (OH), Marshall (GA), Massa (NY), Matheson (UT), McIntyre (NC), Melancon (LA), Minnick (ID), Mitchell (AZ), Mollohan (WV), Nye (VA), Ortiz (TX), Pomeroy (ND), Rahall (WV), Rodriguez (TX), Ross (AR), Salazar (CO), Stark (CA), Tanner (TN), Taylor (MS), Visclosky (IN), Wilson (OH).

This battle moves to the Senate now. I hope you are ready for a fierce battle. If the House bill or anything like it becomes law, your children, my children, and every child in America will grow up in a less competitive, severely weakened country, with a much lower standard of living as the center of global economic power shifts to Asia.

Barrett

[1] Ebell, Myron, “Trojan Hearse: ‘Cap and Trade’ = Economy-Killer”, June 25, 2009, NY Post Online posted at 2:29 a.m. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/06252009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/trojan_hearse_175976.htm).
[2] Investor’s Business Daily, “Waxman-Markey: Man-Made Disaster”, IBD Editorials Online, June 25, 2009 posted at 4:20 p.m. (http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?secid=1501&status=article&id=330822830678035&secure=1&show=1&rss=1).
[3] Ebell, Myron, “Trojan Hearse: ‘Cap and Trade’ = Economy-Killer”, June 25, 2009, NY Post Online posted at 2:29 a.m. (http://www.nypost.com/seven/06252009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/trojan_hearse_175976.htm).
[4] Campbell, Karen Ph.D. and David Kreutzer, Ph.D., “Waxman-Markey Global Warming Bill: Economic Impact by Congressional District”, June 25, 2009, Heritage Foundation Web Memo # 2504
[5] Beach, William W., David Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen Campbell, Ph.D. and Ben Lieberman, “Son of Waxman-Markey: More Politics Makes for More Costly Bill”, May 18, 2009, Heritage Foundation Web Memo # 2450