Cap and Trade; or The Great Money Grab of '09

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution cheap energy has been the life’s blood of society. In America we are especially dependant upon cheap, reliable energy. Virtually every facet of life in America relies on coal and petroleum products. Most of our electricity is produced using coal and natural gas. Almost every product on the shelves in retail stores was transported there using diesel power. Most of us rely of gasoline-powered cars for daily transportation. Even the food we eat is largely produced using diesel powered equipment and fertilizers whose production is dependant upon cheap natural gas. For example, when the price of gasoline rose steeply last summer, the price of nitrogen fertilizers (fertilizers essential to crop production) tripled! ANY MEASURE THAT ARTIFICIALLY INCREASES THE PRICE OF ENERGY WILL INCREASE THE COST OF VIRTUALLY EVERY FACET OF AMERICAN LIFE!!!

The Waxman-Markey Climate Bill, also known as Cap and Trade, will drastically increase the price of energy for every American. I know I sound alarmist, however I have read large portions of the bill and every analysis of it that I can find, and if passed Cap and Trade will raise not only the price of electricity but also the price of nearly every consumable product on the market. Since this bill is unilateral, American products will become far less competitive in the world market place resulting in a reduction in trade. Increased prices here at home, coupled with a drastic reduction in trade will lead to business failures and additional economic hardship for all Americans. Cap and Trade will virtually destroy our economy.

While those effects are reason enough to oppose the Waxman-Markey bill, I ask you this: Why is the Federal Government trying to enact legislation that will have such an earth shattering impact on the economy? The proposed reason is to combat global warming, however even the proponents of the bill admit that at the end of the century it will only reduce global temperatures by 2 TENTHS of a degree! And that according to the most generous of available projections!! Clearly the immediate detrimental effects on our way of life outweigh the proposed environmental benefits.

I believe if we are to truly understand the reasons behind Cap and Trade we must examine the money trail. Essentially Cap and Trade first mandates that businesses must have a license to emit carbon dioxide and then establishes a market place for pollution licenses to be traded like stocks. This market is regulated and run by the Federal Government with the taxes going directly into government’s coffers. Ostensibly the tax revenue collected will be used to assist poor (by the government’s definition) consumers in offsetting the increased costs caused by Cap and Trade. However, we all know that Washington is notoriously inefficient, corrupt, and rife with narcissistic politicians intent on expanding their power bases and I find it ludicrous to believe that our leaders want this program for anything other than lining their own pockets!!! Upon examination the Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill amounts to nothing more than an enormous power and money grab by the Federal Government.

Call your congressmen and tell them to be content with their own rather large salaries. Tell them to oppose Cap and Trade. Call, write, and e-mail until this massive tax increase is six feet under in a padlocked concrete vault. Make your voice heard today!

Big Brother is Watching

I recently finished reading George Orwell’s 1984. I must admit, I found it riveting. Rarely does one find such a plain spoken, straightforward discussion of the ultimate, if unconscious, aims of totalitarianism in the guise of socialism. It truly is a must read book. In light of 1984 I present you with the following article:

“The year is 2020 and the gasoline tax is history. In its place you get a monthly tax bill based on each mile you drove — tracked by a Global Positioning System device in your car and uploaded to a billing center.
What once was science fiction is being field-tested by the University of Iowa to iron out the wrinkles should a by-the-mile road tax ever be enacted.
Besides the technological advances making such a tax possible, the idea is getting a hard push from a growing number of transportation experts and officials. That is because the traditional by-the-gallon fuel tax, struggling to keep up with road building and maintenance demands, could fall even farther behind as vehicles’ gas mileage rises and more alternative-fuel vehicles come on line.”

By STEVE EVERLY
The Kansas City Star

The interesting thing that is not mentioned in this article is that with the huge Cap and Tax bill recently passed the effective tax on a gallon of gasoline will skyrocket and people will drive even less, further decreasing the revenues raised by fuel taxes. This is simply another case of the government killing the goose that lays the golden egg and then realizing that, “Oh Crap!! No more golden eggs!!”

The thing I find most insidious though, and the reason for the 1984 reference, is that, if enacted, the government will be tracking the comings and goings of every vehicle owner in these United States. Can you say “Big Brother is watching”? The proposition of a road usage tax, tracked by a GPS beacon on your car, is a massive invasion of privacy and effectively allows the government to know where you go, who you visit, and at what times you venture anywhere outside the four walls of you castle. If you thought the Patriot Act was a travesty because of its implications for personal privacy, then you should be truly horrified at the prospect of a GPS based road usage tax. It takes little imagination to concoct a scenario in which innocent people are added to watch lists simply because they made a wrong turn and wound up driving past a KKK meeting.

The idea of a GPS based road usage tax is nothing more than a round about method for the federal government to spy on each and every citizen of these United States. Another objection to this concept is that I am almost certain that our legislators will not substitute a road usage tax for the current fuel tax but will implement it in addition to the fuel tax providing a double hit to all American drivers.

This is simply another example of why the citizens of a free nation must be ever vigilant in regards to their freedom. Liberty is rarely lost in one fell swoop; rather it is taken little by little and slowly eroded over time. Keep a sharp eye on your elected representative or they will keep a sharp eye on you. Remember, Big Brother is Watching.