Senate makes it harder to pass global warming bill

[Guest guest]

The whole cap and trade thing is a massive fraud. The only things it will do is to tank the economy and make day traders rich. There was an article recently that said that Obama had a hand in setting up the groundwork for the cap and trade program while he was in Chicago and a few years back. His current connections to that board are unclear. Involved or not, the caps would be traded in Chicago, which means that those caps would be passed around just like the mortgage instruments were making the big investors loads of cash, until it crashed. It will simply be a repeat of what happened in Europe.

If they really want to do something productive, this is what I would suggested.

Heavy tax and other incentives to get solar panels manufacturing back in the US.

Announce that in 2 years, grants will be available for people to get panels for their houses. Rural areas would be targeted first so to ease power burdens on the long powerlines.

Installation would not be done through a government entity. Instead, private companies would form to handle the work. This would be more than just installation, but also determining if a property had enough light to set up the systems or not and which would be best for a given property. The homeowner would hire the contractor and have the work done. I would suggest that a government inspector would be a good idea to keep things honest, but this could be handled easily by training local building inspectors in solar power.

Businesses would also get tax breaks and some grants to apply solar panels as well.

This would have the result of getting people interested in solar power and getting savings on their power bills. They would probably also save energy if they were allowed to sell unused power back to the power companies at 40% or so of the going rate. Even if this was just a credit on ones power bill and not a cash payment, that would be just as good.

Simply put, this would encourage the people and give them a degree of freedom. Cap and trade will only make the rich richer.

In a message dated 4/1/2009 6:40:01 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

For those Democrats who voted for the Demoratic party in the last election, you ought to know that your concerns about the environment have fallen on deaf ears. The people you elected are spitting in your face.Enjoy.Administrator Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.

[Guest guest]

For those Democrats who voted for the Demoratic party in the last election, you

ought to know that your concerns about the environment have fallen on deaf ears.

The people you elected are spitting in your face.

Enjoy.

Administrator

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090401/ap_on_go_co/congress_budget

Senate makes it harder to pass global warming bill

1 min ago

WASHINGTON – The Senate is making it tougher to pass the cap-and-trade

legislation President Barack Obama wants as part of an effort to reduce global

warming.

Lawmakers voted 67-31 on Wednesday to deny the legislation a filibuster-proof

path through the Senate. That means 60 votes instead of a simple majority will

be needed to pass the cap-and-trade proposal.

Republicans and Democrats are wary of Obama's proposal to allow the government

to auction permits to companies to emit greenhouse gases, with the costs of the

permits being passed on to consumers.

As the minority party in the Senate, Republicans had feared that Democratic

leaders would use filibuster-proof rules to push through the cap-and-trade

legislation.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's

earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Wednesday voted to boost aid to Pakistan and

increase funds for security along the U.S.-Mexico border, but rejected a

Republican attempt to freeze spending on domestic programs.

As lawmakers continued work on a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint for the upcoming

fiscal year, the Senate was poised to vote on whether to move quickly on

President Barack Obama's controversial " cap-and-trade " plan to combat global

warming. The so-called fast-track procedure would allow Democrats to move the

measure through the Senate without Republican votes.

The Senate was expected to reject the process.

By voice vote, the Senate approved a plan by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., to add

$550 million to the homeland security budget to protect areas along the

U.S.-Mexico border from violent drug cartels. Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., won

adoption of a $4 billion increase next year in aid to Pakistan, a key ally in

the war against al-Qaida.

But Democrats easily rejected a bid by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to freeze

domestic spending at 2008 levels. The vote was 58-40.

On the global warming effort, Republicans fear that Democrats will use

filibuster-proof rules to push through the cap-and-trade legislation later this

year. Under cap-and-trade, the government would auction permits to emit

heat-trapping gases, with the costs being passed on to consumers via higher

gasoline and electric bills.

Several moderate Democrats oppose the plan.

In the House, Republicans unveiled a budget plan that would gradually eliminate

the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program, offering a stark — and

politically problematic — alternative to blueprints offered by Obama and his

Democratic allies.

The plan would have future Medicare beneficiaries — people 54 and younger —

enroll in private health insurance plans and receive a subsidy on their

premiums. Benefits would not be changed for people in the program or those 55 or

older.

" If we don't reform our entitlement programs, they go bankrupt and people's

benefits get cut automatically, " said Rep. of Wisconsin, the top

Republican on the House Budget Committee.

Democrats warned that the GOP proposal would result in sharply higher costs for

the elderly as the value of the subsidy fails to keep up with health care

inflation.

" If, in fact, the Republicans are achieving the ends that they say they are

achieving, they do so by employing draconian means, " said House Majority Leader

Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

Despite spending reductions, the House GOP plan projects permanent deficits

exceeding $500 billion into the future, fueled largely by big tax cuts.

The GOP plan would offer a dramatically simplified tax code in which couples

would have the option of a 10 percent rate on the first $100,000 of income, with

a 25 percent rate thereafter, with the first $25,000 of income exempt from

taxation. Singles could get a $12,500 exemption and a 10 percent rate on income

up to $50,000.

Taxpayers could also opt to remain in the current system.

Democrats warned that the GOP plan would force draconian cuts to the program.

The GOP plan has no chance of becoming law, but offers voters a contrast between

the rival parties. Republicans have complained that Obama's $3.6 trillion budget

for next year taxes, borrows and spends way too much. The White House and

Democrats have labeled the GOP the " party of no. "

The GOP alternative emerged as the House began debate on a Democratic budget

measure that largely tracks Obama's plans, though not his exact assumptions such

as limiting wealthier taxpayers' ability to deduct mortgage interest, charitable

contributions and other deductions.

Under Congress' arcane budget process, the first step in enacting major

legislation such as Obama's plans to dramatically overhaul the U.S. health care

system is to pass a nonbinding blueprint called a budget resolution.

Given the recession and the financial crisis, the budget outlook has become

truly bleak, with the deficit for the current budget year expected in the $1.7

trillion range and the deficit for 2010 between $1.2 trillion to $1.4 trillion,

depending on whether additional financial bailout funds are approved.