H.R. 2454 CONTINUED

It certainly was a long weekend since the slam dunk vote by the House on Friday with 8 Republican being the spoilers of our Republic. I gave this time to not only collect my thoughts on this but to also find out as much about why this bill passed so quickly.

I am not an expert of how the House and Senate go through their proceedings so I really do not understand how something comes out of Committee, add 300 hundred pages at 3 am, forced on to the floor to be voted leaving no time for the Congressmen to even review the bill. Several Congressmen requested the bill from the House Speaker and were refused right on the House floor. Why and how could anyone put up with this? Then there were reports that the bill was not finalized until 2 July at which point votes could be changed but somehow that was changed.

There is more here to this bill then it's title, American Clean Energy and Security Act. Here are some of what others are saying about this bill.
"The Cap and Trade Bill HR 2454 was voted on last Friday. Proponents claim this bill will help the environment, but what it really does is put another nail in the economy’s coffin. The idea is to establish a national level of carbon dioxide emissions, and sell pollution permits to industry as the Catholic Church used to sell indulgences to sinners. HR 2454 also gives federal bureaucrats new power to regulate a wide variety of household appliances, such as light bulbs and refrigerators, and further distorts the market by providing more of your tax money to auto companies." Ron Paul
"Despite heated objections by some Republicans, the unread 1,200-page Waxman-Markey climate bill was passed 219-212 in the House on Friday." Aaron Dykes
"“We’re disappointed we can’t support the bill,” says Nick Berning, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth. “There just was not enough in it to reduce pollution while billions were given to big oil, dirty coal.”





This misnomer bill is not only going to impose more taxes for Americans, it promises rebates for the poorer Americans and that is all that is being said. But if you look at the actual figures you will see a rebate of less then $300 yet the bill promises to increase energy cost by about $3000 per family. It blows my mind to think that anyone with any sort of understanding of math would see that increasing cost per American of $3000 a year, creating a situation where people will lose their jobs and then giving them a 10% back as a rebate is not helping anyone.

My biggest problem is the fact that the States are going to have to give up more and more power to the Fed in order to put this bill in place. Between the regulations on remodeling we will have new requirements for new houses and buildings that will increase the cost of building. That on top of what I am calling the Green Police and their warrantless inspections of our homes to make sure that we doing what the Governments requires from us we are being usurped by the Fed. THIS IS NOT FREEDOM, THIS IS RUSSIA ON STEROIDS. States and local governments are going to be told what to do by the Government which is the absolute opposite of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We have sovereignty, the right to govern ourselves and not to have our lives micromanaged by the Federal government.

With this bill and then the National Health Care, we as the people are going to loose more and more power to be able to run this country. As an aside, I read an article about the 17th Amendment from 1913, which was the same year that the Amendment for income tax was put in place. Back in the day, our Senators were voted in to place by the States government. The voices of our States government put our Federal Senators in to power. This was switched by the 17th Amendment where the Senators were voted in by the populace of the State meaning that the populace had more control but the government of the State had less. This knocked out the balance of power in the Legislative body of the government by taking away the States voices as well. The House was set up to be the most powerful arm of the Legislative branch. The House is more of the voice of the American people because there are more reps based on population. Since the 17th Amendment, you can trace back to the now quick demise of the country. With the way it was, when we had a situation like we have now with HR 2454, the States would have a real voice in the vote of the Senate when this type of bill is turned over to them for a vote. States are the real power of this country, hence, United States of America. These are the States united, each having a voice in the Federal government in order to keep a balance there with their reps. With this gone and the Senate is more of a rogue branch now, working almost as the House does which takes away a checks and balance in this branch. The only good thing is that I read an article that said that this bill will have a hard time making it through the Senate...lets hope! Sphere: Related Content

H.R.2454

I find myself spending a bit too much time on the Global Warming, Climate Change situation that we have going on right now. The reason behind this is simple from day one, 20 years ago, I thought that this was some sort of scam. How arrogant was our scientific community to say that our planet is warming up like never before because there are holes in the Ozone. That on top of the fact that 7 years ago I was being told as a kid that we were going in to a new Ice Age. Well that was 20 years ago, now were are putting too much carbon in the atmosphere and increasing the temperature of the planet and ice caps are melting and the water level will rise and flood NYC in 100 years. Yet the facts are that the temperature is going down and that is because the sun is not as hot as it was 2 years ago.
Well the ball has dropped and the real reason for the scare has come to light. HR 2454 Americas Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is the solution. Behind the fluff you will find an increase of taxes, plain and simple.
Here is the record of a speech made on the floor against H.R.2454 on 23 June 2009:

Rep. Jerry Moran [R-KS1]: From its very beginning in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, has been forced upon Members of Congress with little time to consider the significant and potentially damaging consequences of this legislation.

On June 12th of this month, the Committee on Agriculture, on which I serve, held a 7-hour hearing to review this bill. We quickly learned that there is little solid economic analysis on how this legislation will affect our economy. Preliminary evidence makes it clear it will increase the cost of energy and, with it, the cost of everything we use in our lives on a daily basis.

We do know that the Congressional Budget Office has said this bill will raise government revenue by $846 billion over the next 10 years. In everyday terms, that means a huge tax increase. $846 billion, however, is just the beginning.

H.R. 2454 is permanent, and after the 10-year period analyzed by the CBO, free carbon allowances are phased out, auctioned carbon allowances are phased in, and total allowances are reduced. This means that future generations will be forced to pay much more than that indicated in the initial 10-year budget estimate.

Although billed as cap-and-trade, in reality Waxman-Markey is a cap-and-tax bill. Instead of government directly levying a tax, this legislation disguises that tax as a carbon allowance auction that subsequently requires electrical generation companies, petroleum, and other biofuel refiners, manufacturers, and others to collect the tax through increased costs.

The consequences go far beyond the price and our ability to turn on the lights in rural America. Kansans, who must always travel great distances to work, to school, and to receive their medical care, will pay disproportionately compared to those who have shorter distances to travel and can use public transportation.

Some had hope that agriculture and rural America would actually benefit, somehow be made whole under this legislation. Under Waxman-Markey, this clearly is not the case.

Despite great potential for agriculture to sequester carbon, agriculture is not mentioned once in the section that defines offsets. Instead, H.R. 2454 directs the EPA to define the world of carbon offsets. This will lead to few benefits for farmers and ranchers and will allow the EPA to further intrude upon our farms.

EPA has consistently made harmful decisions that fail the test of common sense. Unless agricultural offsets are expressly defined and sole authority is given to the Department of Agriculture, farmers will never see benefits from this legislation.

But even if those offsets are defined and USDA is given that authority, it is difficult to see how agriculture will overcome the increased cost of inputs caused by this cap-and-tax system. In the best case scenario under Waxman-Markey, a farmer could mitigate 10 to 50 percent of the cost of the legislation. In the worst case scenario, farmers and ranchers could find themselves unable to access the carbon offset market at all and be forced to bear the full cost of this legislation. Either way, any hope for profitability in agriculture is bleak.

I am especially concerned about the livestock sector. Unlike crop farmers, ranch operations and feed yards have few opportunities to accumulate carbon - offsets.

Much emphasis has been placed upon our Nation's economic recovery since the market collapse of last fall. This bill is almost certain to destroy any chance of economic recovery if enacted in its current form.

Congress should be allowed to obtain sound technical and economic analysis and address this legislation's many, many, many flaws. If further legislative debate is denied, then we must do what common sense demands and defeat this bill. Congress rarely gets things right when we have ample time to properly consider policy changes, but it has never made good decisions when rushed by arbitrary timetables.

Congress should abandon the current pace set by the Speaker of the House. Otherwise, Members of Congress will have abdicated their responsibilities and farmers and ranchers, rural America, and in fact, the entire country will suffer the consequences.

Please contact your Congressman and Senators and tell them "no" to this bill. Your voice is actually very important to them and they need to hear from you, it is your responsibility as an American Citizen! Sphere: Related Content

Banks Funding Climate Change

I was walking out of Penn Station yesterday heading up town to go to work yesterday. I crossed over 7th Ave heading to 33rd St and I see this great new bulletin board. I pulled out my phone and took this picture.
This is a bulletin board that is that is going to count the amount of Carbon Dioxide being pumped in to the atmosphere. The title says, "CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS EVERYONE" then there is a counter below, which is not running yet and then below that it says, "Greenhouse Gases In Our Atmosphere".
In the upper right hand corner is sponsor of this bulletin board is Deutshe Bank. The bulletin board is right over a Capital One bank and Bank of America. The irony here is that right around the corner just above the LIRR entrance was the marque that had an up-to-date count of the federal debt which was shut off about a year ago. I don't think the marque was large enough to handle the amount of the debit.
I guess we can agree that the banks are supporting the Climate Change movement. You think they are looking forward to the Carbon Tax money? Sphere: Related Content

We The People?

What is hot today in today's world of news? "Rep: Heidi not tortured on 'Celebrity' or Blame Reagan for our financial mess or Varied prescriptions on health reform" What about Cap and Trade, how Obama is going to continue to tax us until we are all broke or kiss your second amendment good bye, actually, kiss the bill of rights good bye. Why is it that "The News" does not actually report on what is going on. When I think of a reporter, I think of some one that is going to the bottom of the story until the full truth is found. Point in case, were is all of the 787 billion of Obama's stimulus package and were did all of the 750 billion from the Bush bailout? Why is it that national news is not reporting on this? Reporting these days just gloss over what is happening, kind of giving us a touch of what is happening with no solution.
On Fox this morning, Meg talked to Republican from WI regarding taxing cattle's flatulence. Meg found this very funny because the Senator said the word, "fart" and complimented the Senator on the fact that he said fart more then anyone had ever done so on Fox News. I do have to compliment the Senator for actually taking the interview seriously, bringing up the point that he has been fighting this point of the EPA not handling global warming by taxing the American citizens. He tried several times to lead Meg to ask about his position on global warming, but she just giggled about how he was using the word fart on TV!! Wow, I am so inspired! We are about to pay even more for food and Meg is giggling about the word fart!!!!
I saw a report today about universal health care which pointed out how 70% of the people with health care which they receive from their employers, are happy with their care and do not want this new system. The fact of the matter is from the reports that I have read, people with health care do not what the government's version of health care and also from what I have read, this is a huge majority. This follows with a majority of the public do not agree with our "wars" that we are involved with, they don't want to attack Korea, Iran or any other country for what ever reason. Polls show that a majority of people think that there is something wrong with the 911 investigation and it needs to be looked in to. Polls also showed that both bailouts that we have had in the last 8 months show that the majority of people were against them, yet again, our Government went ahead and pushed this through. I am sure that you can go back to 1912 that a majority disagreed with the creation of a Central Bank but this was also pushed through.
So why is it that the majority disagree with how the government is acting yet it continues to go ahead with it's agenda? Think about it, we are a Republic, our Representatives with in the government are suppose to vote based on us the people. But then you hear stories like with the Central Bank legislation being brought to Congress to vote on with the night before Christmas with many of the Congress heading home to be with their families. (Don't forget that in 1912, there where no plains so I am sure some with Congress left several days earlier!) One of the reports I read during the October 2008 bailout, one Senator said that he was pressured in to signing the bill being told the stock market would crash 2500 points, banks would go out of business and there would be marshal law in the streets in of America. They where then given less then 24 hours to read the bill.
Again a similar thing happened with Obama's bailout, pressure from the administration, threats of what could happen if they did not vote for it and then being given the bill with little to no time to review it before they vote on it. But again most people disagreed with the bailouts yet the Congress still slammed it through. As a side note, I love how Obama pushed the bill though and then took the weekend off and did not sign it until the next Tuesday after the bill was passed on Friday.
So what is happening here? Why is the majority of the public of the US disagreeing with what our government is doing but yet they keep voting against our wishes. My theory is two-fold. One, the public are not keeping track of what the government is doing so not contacting their reps to share their opinion. If fact, most people were not aware that when you contact your reps, whether it be in the local, state or federal, each person that contacts their office counts as a particular number of other public. If you contact your Senator or Congressman, it is considered that 10,000 other have that same opinion so your 1 call or email is worth 10,000 people.
The second opinion is that our reps really do not care what we think and are just pushing through some agenda that is going to push their career ahead, which of course is the scariest of the two. I honestly think that we could say that 3/4 of the time, our reps do not care what we think and the 1/4 of the time, our reps just don't hear from us. Think about it, maybe if we did contact them more often, then maybe we would be able to have more control over this. Maybe they fall in to the agenda because it seems that we don't care.
Most people do blindly just vote for someone because they appear to be the right candidate. Look at our last Presidential election. It appeared that voting for Obama was the right choice, we were looking to rid ourselves of Bush so lets get a fresh face in the office of the President who was making the right promises. The fact that he was black made it even more appealing to me, it showed that this country was saying the hell with the past, that we can have a black man as a President, meaning to me that we can have a man despite the color of his skin in office.
There is something that we are also missing out on with regards to our country and that is the fact that it country is a Republic, not a Democracy, yet when I was trying to work out what the difference between the two, I found it very difficult to decipher the difference until now. The key point to that I have found is the point of sovereignty. The statement, "We The People" has enormous meaning. A Democracy is a government of majority rules, 51% of the people control 49% of the people. With this idea, people are no longer free unless they are in the 51%. A Republic promotes the point that each man is in control of his own life, freedom and that pursuit of such freedom. This is done through the guise of the Constitution. What is unique about our country's constitution is the point of checks and balances. This is the point of the three branches of government, Executive, Legislative and Judicial. This system is suppose to control a Democracy from occurring, one branch overlooks the action of the other. Legislative has the right to vote down a bill, President can veto a bill and the Supreme Court has the Constitution to compare a bill to in order to verify it being legal.
Our government is just that, our government. Our Representatives work for us, we elect them to be our voices, we control what they do and have the right to call them on it per the 1st Amendment.
So this leads me to this conclusion, we are allowing ourselves to be completely dumbed down. We watch the news and read the papers that don't really tell us what is happen but because we trust them we feel like we are being informed. "I saw Paris Hilton's boob so I am in the grove of what is happening." It comes down to us, We The People, we are allow this to happen to us despite how it is being done, we are not paying attention to what our government is doing, we are not doing our homework with the laws that are being introduced, instead we are trusting what the media is telling us so if and when the shit hits the fan, we all need to look in the mirror and ask who is at fault for allowing this to happen!! Sphere: Related Content

Cap and Trade Continued

It has been about a week since I have written anything on this blog yet there is so much happening out there. I originally started this blog as a way to help support the alternative media effort by putting out information that the main media machine has decided not to report on. Actually, they do report what is happening, they just twist it so it seems to be how things are suppose to happen. This is why the alternative media is something that is really needed because it takes the truth and then reports what is really happens.
The fact of the matter here is that I really can not keep up with what is going on out there so I have made this more of an opinion based blog. Taking the facts of what is happening and then injecting my viewpoint with what is happening. I spend hours of my day listening to Alex Jones podcast. I do a lot of traveling so I use this time to listen to him. I monitor the media but after you watch the same report on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and Fox, you find that there is not much time that you need to watch these media outlets to find out what is happening because they all say the same thing. I read Logistics Monster, subscribe to Ron Paul and scan the rest of the alternative media to see what is happening which can take some time.
There is one thing out there that I am not seeing in the alternative media as well as the main line media machine and that is the Cap and Trade aka Al Gore tax that is in the Senate Committee right now. I emailed my Congressman and Senators here in New Jersey a few weeks ago with regards to this and obviously I expressed my concern about this. My main point to them was that I was worried that an environmental issue has now turned in to an economical issue. Cap and Trade, admitted by our President, will increase energy cost by some 70%.
A tax is being used to curtail carbon emmission to reduce what is formally know as "global warming". This system most simple will give an advatage to larger businesses as they will have the capital to control the trade of their emmissions. This will reduce the ability of the smaller businesses to be able to afford to purchase the ability to put out more emmissioins because the levels that they will be allowed to have will be much lower then what they have right now so they will have to trade with the larger companies and that price of doing this will destroy their companies. They will not be able to keep up basically.
I stated above that I emailed my Senetors and I did get a response to my email from Senator Robert Menendez and hear is what he had to say, "Thank you for contacting me regarding climate change legislation. Your opinion is very important to me, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you on this critical issue.
I understand your concern with the economic impact of this legislation. Like you, I believe it is vital that we carefully consider and prepare for how a cap and trade program will affect the daily lives of those at every income level. That is why I cosponsored an amendment that offered increased protections for low-income families, while moving forward with the fight against global warming.
However, it is important to remember that the costs of ignoring global warming far outweigh the costs of acting now to reduce emissions. For instance, recent projections in New Jersey predict that the Jersey Shore could erode inland by as much as 300 yards because of sea level rise by the end of this century. This would cost our state billions in tourism revenue as well as destroy what I consider a national treasure. Please rest assured, however, that careful consideration of any economic impacts from climate change legislation is a priority for me, and I will keep your opinions in mind as we continue to debate and discuss this topic."
Now I am not going to say what really want to with regards to the Senators PR'ish answer to me because he was the only on that actually answered me. I did respond asking two questions, where and what is this tax money going to be used for and I asked him to contact NASA to find out if the earths tempature has gone up or down over the last few years. The answer to this is that it has gone down which is why we are referring to global warming now as climate change. We will see what his answer is on this. I did point out to him that is concern about lower income families was "nice" but the tax basis for this counrty and voter basis in this country is the middle class so he needs to be concerned with them as well. Sphere: Related Content

Cap and Trade

American Clean Energy Security Act of 2009 aka, Cap and Trade, is being pushed on the floor of the House today. You need to get in touch with your Congressmen to vote against this bill unless you enjoy paying $3,900 out of your pocket for big industry!!! The tactic of pushing a bill through is being done on this so more then likely, our Congressmen just received the bill and have not had time to read it but will vote on it so they can go home for the long weekend!
Here is the link for the bill: http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1560
Here is the link for your Congressman: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ Sphere: Related Content