West Virginia Activist Writes About Cap and Tax Next Steps

FreedomWorks Congressional Action Team member Alice Click was published over the weekend as a guest commentator in the Hinton News.  The article, “How do Higher Energy Costs Help Open Idle Steel Mills or Struggling Auto Makers” nailed the crux of the debate: the legislation kills jobs.  Click went on to urge readers to contact Sen. Rockefeller.

How do higher prices at the pump and skyrocketing electric bills help families struggling through a recession that here looks more like a depression?

The Obama administration scored a major legislative victory in making gasoline, electric, and other forms of energy more expensive Friday, June 26, 2009 when the House of Representatives passed Cap and Trade legislation.

As America’s manufacturing sector struggles with foreign competition and a poor economy, higher energy prices could be the knockout blow for hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Democrats in Congress voted 219 to 212 Friday to kill real jobs and replace them with hypothetical ‘green’ jobs by two votes. Only 8 Liberal Republicans voted for the final passage.

Congresswoman Capito and Congressman Mollohan voted “No”. Yet with great trepidation, and with demonstrators on the streets in his district, Congressman Rahall finally came on board to vote “No” as well.

Thanks to some last-minute backroom deals, Pelosi managed to gain the support of just enough “blue dog” Democrats to pass the bill.

Now the bill moves to the Senate. With an ailing older Senator Byrd who remains absent from Capitol Hill, our only hope is to convince Senator Rockefeller to vote “No”

…Under the new act, as many as 7 million jobs could be lost in addition to increased energy costs by as much as $3,100 per family. The bill includes a price tag of $646 billion, adding further stress to a mounting deficit and debilitated economy. According to various studies, the resulting reductions of CO2 from such legislation are negligible at best.

The Waxman-Markey bill is nothing more than a “regressive” national energy tax on all Americans. This is an understatement. H.R. 2454 could turn out to be the largest tax hike in American history.