Wouldn’t it be nice if anybody in our Federal government were a grown-up? Obama wants us to spend billions we don’t have on trains we don’t really need, and the Republicans are treating the Federal budget like their personal playground.
What an incredible mess this country is in.
So apparently we also need to make sure we pass preventative bills for taxes that haven’t been passed: the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011. This is a stupid idea.
From the NYT Green blog (with a somewhat histrionic title):
The bill, known as the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, could come up for a vote as early as Wednesday and is almost certain to pass when it does. It has virtually unanimous support among the Republican majority and will probably draw votes from a few Democrats from coal and oil producing states.
The measure, sponsored by Representatives Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan, and Ed Whitfield, Republican of Kentucky, would overturn the E.P.A.’s finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a danger to human health and the environment. That finding, based on a broad scientific consensus, is the basis for pending regulation of carbon emissions from vehicles and large stationary sources like power plants, factories and refineries.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Since when did “protecting consumers from higher energy costs” become a legitimate form of public policy in a market-based system? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE AND WHERE DID THEY GO TO REPUBLICAN SCHOOL?
Both parties should do what they don’t want to do and cut our highest-in-the-world-by-a-lot military budget by a few hundred billion per year. When it’s $700 billion and the next highest county’s is $100 billion (China) I’d say there’s some room to trim. Then raise taxes on everyone.
But it’s premature to balance the budget. We still need deficit spending to get us through 9% U.S. and 12% CA unemployment.
What a disaster . . .