Senate readies a compromise cap and trade bill

  Last year the House passed a cap and trade bill that was dead on arrival in the Senate. The bill has languished there for many months while the congress decided to force healthcare reform legislation, that a vast majority of the people oppose, down our throats. But with healthcare reform legislation completed, cap and trade is back on the table and the Senate is in the process of completing a compromise cap and trade bill with the hope of voting on it in either June or July.

  The president laid the foundation for this bill by announcing his intentions to begin more nuclear power projects and expanded oil drilling. This was an effort to win over some Republican votes for the cap and trade legislation that is soon to be debated.

  Look for the congress to push forward aggressively with this legislation in an attempt to pass it before the November election. I fear that there is not much that we will be able to do to stop this bill as it already has some Republican support without the president’s promises on nuclear energy and expanded oil drilling. If the congress was not willing to listen to the American people on healthcare reform, and if the congress was willing to bend the rules in order to pass healthcare reform, it appears as if this bill is certain to pass the congress and be signed by the president on a relatively quick timeline.

  There is nothing better to jumpstart a stalled economy like levying even more taxes against the American people– at least that is the way the president sees it. He believes that the “green jobs” opportunities will help the troubled economy, but he is forgetting about– or unwilling to publically admit– the devastating effects that more taxes will have on the economy if an already over-taxed people are taxed even further.