Don’t call it a fiscal cliff | Economic Policy Institute
Posted: 10 December 2012 Filed under: Economics, Fiscal Policy, Observations, Society | Tags: Fiscal Spending, Political Debate, US Congress Leave a comment »Don’t call it a fiscal cliff | Economic Policy Institute.
Did You Say Freedom?
Posted: 10 September 2012 Filed under: Elections, Observations, Political Theory, Politics, Society | Tags: Freedoms, Political Debate, Political Rhetoric, Postaday 2012 3 Comments »Contrary to popular belief I do not get angry very often…..but when I do it is usually about patriotism or the use of the word freedom……and especially when it is about veterans and their treatment by the country and/or politicians……
I have a real problem when people use the word freedom too easily…….
Freedom? A word that is used to influence and confuse. I have been reading comments on many different sights and it seems that there is a common thread….the use of the word….FREEDOM. These people imply that they and they alone know what freedom is and that they will defend it with their vote to protect America from other Americans….I find that extremely insulting. Insulting to the point that they are the sole protectors of freedom and others who think like them and the rest of us are some how enemies of this country……
Thinking differently is not an assault on freedom…..if anything it is a re-enforcement. But by attacking people that have different thoughts is an attack on their freedom that is guaranteed by the same document that these people use as a prop on every occasion.
While you were warm in your bed…….while you were playing with the kids…….while you were trashing your political foes……..these people were doing what needs to be done……
Browse…..take some time to see those who defend you……..These people took the term “freedom” seriously………do YOU?
Unless you are willing to go through what they go through….then STOP using ‘FREEDOM” as some bullshit political prop! I am not picking on any one political party….they both are bullshit institutions that need to be replaced by real people doing real work to help this country….so far I see NO one of these dipsticks as anything but self-serving toads…….
Ya Wanna Piss Off A Conserv?
Posted: 30 August 2011 Filed under: Observations, Politics | Tags: Conservatives, Political Debate, Postaday2011, Republicans 15 Comments »In my writings and discussions that I have with fellow analysts and political geeks….I am always looking for the easiest ways to piss off a conserv….it always throws them off their argument….if you can find that one statement that can do the most to confuse and frustrate your enemy (by enemy, I am talking about a debate opponent….not some lunatic thing that all conservs are fascist or some such)……..
Personally, I am tired of being called….socialist……un-American…….etc…….there has got to be another way to fight these accusations………
I would like to thank Stephen D. Foster, Jr. of Addicting Info for the list…….
1. A Socialist wrote the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Jesus healed the sick and helped the poor, for free.
3. Joseph McCarthy was an un-American, witch hunting sissy.
4. Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were traitors.
5. The South lost the Civil War, get over it.
6. The Founding Fathers were liberals.
7. Fascism is a right-wing trait.
8. Sarah Palin is an ugly cow (said to conservative males).
9. The Earth is round.
10. Reagan raised taxes eleven times as President.
11. Reagan legalized abortion as Governor of California.
12. Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency.
13. Ronald Reagan supported gun control.
14. Global warming is real.
15. Republicans hate illegal immigrants, unless they need their lawns mowed or their houses cleaned.
16. The military is a government-run institution, so why do Republicans approve the defense budget?
17. The Cold War is over and the Soviet Union no longer exists.
18. Paying taxes is patriotic.
19. Republicans: Peddling the same failed economic policies since 1880.
20. The Republican Party began as a liberal party.
21. The Presidents’ full name is Barack Hussein Obama and he was born in the United States of America.
22. George W. Bush held hands with the King of Saudi Arabia.
23. President Obama saved the American auto industry, while Republicans wanted to destroy it.
24. Hate is not a Christian virtue.
25. Jesus was a liberal.
26. Republicans spend MORE money than Democrats.
27. Tea parties are for little girls.
28. Public schools educate all children; private schools are for indoctrinating children.
29. The Constitution is the law, NOT the Bible.
30. Sharia law doesn’t exist in America.
31. The President is NOT a Muslim.
32. Corporations are NOT people. People are people.
33. Fox News isn’t real news, it’s just a racist, sexist, hateful, right-wing propaganda machine.
34. The Federal Reserve was a Republican idea.
35. Women are equal citizens who deserve equal rights.
36. Women control their own bodies.
37. Abortion is a relevant medical procedure, just ask Rick Santorum.
38. Please use spell check.
39. It’s “pundit”, not “pundint”.
40. Social Security is solvent through 2038.
41. Health care is a right, not a product.
42. Roe v. Wade was a bipartisan ruling made by a conservative leaning Supreme Court.
43. G.O.P also stands for Gross Old Perverts.
44. The donkey shouldn’t be the Democratic mascot because Republicans are the real jackasses.
45. Barack Obama ordered the killing of Osama Bin Laden. It took him two and half years to do what Bush couldn’t do in eight.
46. Waterboarding IS torture.
47. 9/11 happened on George W. Bush’s watch, therefore he did NOT keep America safe.
48. Republicans invaded Iraq for oil, so Iraq should be allowed to invade Texas to get it back.
49. Separation of church and state is in the Constitution, it’s called the First Amendment.
50. Muslims are protected by the Constitution, just as much as Christians.
51. Barack Obama is the first African-American President, get over it.
52. The Oval Office is NOT a “whites only” office.
53. America is a nation of immigrants, therefore we are all anchor babies.
54. The white race isn’t disappearing, it’s evolving.
55. God is a particle.
56. Evolution is real.
57. The Earth is 4.54 billion years old, not 6,000.
58. The Founding Fathers did not free the slaves.
59. The Revolution was NOT fought over slavery.
60. Paul Revere warned the Americans, NOT the British.
61. Federal law trumps state law.
62. The Civil War was about slavery, NOT state’s rights.
63. Corporations care more about profits than they do about people.
64. Getting out of a recession requires government spending.
65. Glenn Beck is a nut-job.
66. Republicans: Paranoid since 1932.
67. Republicans don’t want to pay for your birth control, but they want you to pay for their Viagra.
68. Republicans actually NEED Viagra.
69. Fox News is owned by an Australian and has a Saudi prince as an investor.
70. Republicans complain about immigrants taking American jobs, then freely give American jobs to foreigners overseas.
71. Republicans hate communism, so why do they refer to themselves as red states?
72. Labor unions built this country.
73. Republicans hold America hostage as a political strategy; the temper tantrum throwing kind of political strategy.
74. Jesus was a Jew, not a Christian.
75. When Republicans see black, they attack.
76. Inside every Republican is a Klansman or a Nazi waiting to bloom.
77. Republicans only care about children BEFORE they are born.
78. Republicans are hypocrites, they’re just too stupid to know it.
79. The Christian-Right boycotts movies that have violence, and then promotes guns and insurrection.
80. I think therefore I am NOT a Republican.
81. Republicans that oppose gay marriage are most likely in the closet themselves.
82. Churches should stay out of politics, or be taxed.
83. People are too poor to vote Republican.
84. Democrats think for themselves, Republicans form think tanks to do it for them.
85. Republicans hate education because they couldn’t hack it in school.
86. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins and Republicans wallow in it.
87. A little socialism on the Left is better than a little fascism on the Right.
88. The current corporate tax rate is the lowest in 60 years, so stop whining about it being too high.
89. Republicans: Anti-Gay Marriage, Pro-Lesbian sex.
90. Republicans: Terrorizing the American people since 1981.
91. Republicans have their own terrorists, just look up Timothy McVeigh.
92. Republicans love outsourcing, just ask the Chinese Communists.
93. The Republican answer to the oil spill was to apologize to BP, a foreign oil company.
94. Democrats will be working hard to bring jobs to Americans, while the Republicans tea bag each other in the middle of the aisles.
95. Voter disenfranchisement is immoral and un-American, that’s why Republicans do it.
96. Republicans would let your house burn down unless you pay them to put it out.
97. Democrats want to take care of the sick. Republicans take their credit cards and then deny them medical attention.
98. Republicans say teachers are union thugs, then proceed to rape and mug the entire middle class on behalf of corporations.
99. Republicans think rape isn’t a crime, but miscarriages are.
100. Republicans are idiots and arguing with them is a waste of time!
I just had to post the entire list…..a wonderful list…..and a great debate tool…..thanx for the assistance…..so my friends find the ones that will help you control your debate with your conserv counterparts and watch their heads explode!
Choose your verbal weapons and get busy!
Side note: A reader, Kendrick of Prince and Little Prince, has pointed out that this is offensive……I can see why he would think that way…..so let me say that I intended this to be a weapon to use against insults leveled at liberals……I by NO means feel this way about people that want to have a real conversation….I apologize to serious analysts and observers….I just wish there were more of you on the blogosphere……
It Is All About Energy
Posted: 31 March 2011 Filed under: Energy, Government, Observations, Politics, Public Policy | Tags: Cap And Trade, Democrats, Political Debate, Postaday2011, Republicans, US Congress Leave a comment »Note: I wrote this back in January and it has been in my drafts all that time……circumstances have prevented me from posting on the energy thing……but our Prez has just made a speech and now we will have a renewal of interests in the whole energy debate…..
Now that the election is over (for now)…..now that the new Congress has been sworn in…..now that thew State of the Union message has been given…it is time to start looking at some of the issues that will come to the floors of both houses……
I have predicted that one of the next big debates (if we can call the games a debate) will be on the issue of Energy……l.but does the GOP have an alternate plan to the Obama cap and trade or as the GOP calls it “cap and tax”?
They do…..but it may have to be altered a bit to win a victory….
There are a few bills with Republican support in Congress right now that are designed to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. They include Sen. George Voinovich’s [R, OH] “Enabling the Nuclear Renaissance Act” (S.3618) and Sen. Maria Cantwell’s [D, WA] “CLEAR Act” (S.2877). But these aren’t really comprehensive, and they don’t seem to have deep enough support to pass the divided Senate next year.
The one bill that seems to have deep Republican support that some Democrats could conceivably get behind as at least a step in the right direction is Sen. Richard Lugar’s [R, IN] “Practical Energy and Climate Plan Act of 2010” (S. 3464). Its co-sponsors include Sen. Lindsey Graham [R, SC], who was one of the central players in climate bill negotiations last year (though he ended up backing out), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK], who has taken more money from electric, oil and gas companies than just about anyone else and typically leads efforts against any energy legislation that the utilities don’t like.
This bill’s designed to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, make energy consumption in the U.S. more efficient, and shut down some of the dirtiest power plants. Lugar estimates that it would accomplish “nearly half the president’s 2020 greenhouse gas emissions goal,” though there is no mechanism in the bill specifically for ensuring that any targets are met.
It would establish benchmarks for industries to diversify their energy sources away from coal, but it’s designed to be flexible and to allow states to grant temporary waivers to companies that say that they will catch up with requirements in the future. The baselines for diversification range from 15% by 2019 to 50% by 2050. Under the bill, diversified energy sources include solar, geothermal, wind and hydropower, but it would also allow some more controversial sources to qualify, including, nuclear, biomass, and “advanced coal.” Old fossil-fuel dependent plants would be allowed to opt out of the diversification requirements if the sign an agreement to cease operations by 2019. This could have the effect of exempting these plants for several years from any new EPA emissions requirements that could encourage them to shut down sooner rather than pay for the necessary upgrades.
In order to increase energy efficiency, the bill would set up a new federal-state partnership for helping energy-intensive industries finance transitions to more efficient technologies and processes. It would also set up new national minimum targets for energy efficiency in new building construction and help homeowners retrofit their homes.
Another major provision in the bill would revise vehicle fuel efficiency standards to be approximately in-line with recent EPA proposals. The bill would codify the Obama fuel efficiency standards proposal of May 2010 (a fleet-wide average of 35 miles per gallon by 2016), and then raise that standard by 4% every year thereafter. That would mean the standard would be above 40 mpg by 2020. However, the bill allows the Transportation Secretary to issue a waiver if they determine that the efficiency standards are unachievable, and with car companies already saying the proposed new EPA targets are impossible, it’s easy to imagine the waiver being issued under the pretense of helping the already struggling auto manufacturers.
These are the alternatives….but will any or all of these provisions remain in the final product? If there is one, that is……
What Has Happened To Political Courage?
Posted: 16 December 2010 Filed under: Government, Observations, Political Theory, Politics, Professor's Classroom, Society | Tags: Political Analysis, Political Courage, Political Debate, Political Discourse, Political Philosophy 43 Comments »College of Political Knowledge
Lecture #
Political courage is doing what is best for the country, not what is expedient for one’s political career….Washington has No one with political courage….just political cowards (a strong word, I know…..but sometimes the truth hurts)……or as I call them CENTRISTS! (a post to follow…stay tuned)
This is one of those subjects that will not be easy to analyze….there is a wealth of angles from which to approach the subject……I will start with the last debate in Washington….the tax cuts proposal that both Left and Right have a problem with…
The media is talking with those on the Left and the right that have voted NO on the new tax bill….they are being portrayed as some kind of hero for standing on principles…..this is mostly bullsh*t!
It is called “corralling” ……the two leaders of each house, the majority and the minority, round up the required votes to pass the bill and once that is accomplished they allow some to vote in opposition to the bill….it is a way of padding a resume for the next run for office……there is NO political courage in this!
In reality, the US Congress has NOT been a serious institution for 40 years or more…..they have NOT really attacked anything of consequence, they only tackle little battles while the war rages on….they have been immature, nay…..cowards, for close to 50 years and soon it will be too late to repair the damage they have caused….and when that occurs, I hope that history will NOT be kind to them and paint them as the cowards they were and are….
The media when they make these idiots out something they are not, are doing NO one any good and are just part of the problem with our governing system…political courage is just a catch phrase in today’s politics….it NO longer exists…..the system dashes all hopes for political courage……the system is corrupt and NO one wants it to change….the prestige, the power, the cash all work in conflict to the people’s desire and that will continue because NO one wants it to change…..NO ONE HAS THE POLITICAL COURAGE TO CHANGE IT!
Is Democracy Served By Special Interests?
Posted: 29 November 2010 Filed under: Business, Government, Observations, Political Theory, Politics, Society | Tags: Elections, Political Analysis, Political Debate, Political Influence, Political Lies 16 Comments »College of Political Knowledge
Subject: Government/Politics
Paper #40
The 2010 mid-term elections are now over and they proved to be the most expensive for the special interests…..about $80+ million was spent so that the GOP could regain the House and damn near took back the Senate….this was up from the $16 million spent in the 2006 mid-terms….so this begs the question, Is our democracy served by special interests?….to be answered.
An observation in the HuffPo by Julie Hirschfield Davis….
Interest groups from across the political spectrum are spending millions to target ultra-specific messages to voters in the final days of congressional campaigns in efforts to turn out key groups that could sway tight races from California to New Hampshire.
Armed with carefully tailored lists of which voters are sympathetic, these organizations are hoping to transform their top issues into deciding factors in close contests. They hope to cut through the near-universal worries about the economy and job losses that have defined this year’s campaign and appeal to people on a single topic that could motivate them to keep – or fire their representatives.
All this was made possible by a decision from the US Supreme Court….
Thanks to a sweeping and ill-considered 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority, corporations will now have the same rights as citizens to support candidates through independent expenditures. With this action, the court has effectively undermined the influence of individuals and parties on electoral outcomes, while vastly increasing the clout of business behemoths and their lobbyist representatives to influence and intimidate legislators to support their agendas. If the lawmaker doesn’t play ball, he or she can be threatened with an unregulated financial blitz come election time.
The court’s ruling came in a case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, that centered on a conservative advocacy group’s expenditures to publicize an anti-Hillary Clinton movie shortly before last year’s Democratic presidential primaries. Current federal law bans such corporate expenditures for communications targeting individual candidates 30 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election.
The SCOTUS has in essence made special interests the 4th branch of our government…..to the point that they write the bills and finance the passage……the FinReg was basically written by the financial sector….Health reform was basically written by the insurance sector and look at the Pledge To America…the GOP plan to save the country….it was written by a pharma lobbyist….so welcome our newest branch of government…..the special interests….
I ask again…..Is our democracy served by special interests?
A Political Fairy Tale
Posted: 16 September 2010 Filed under: Government, Observations, Society | Tags: Political Debate, Political History, Political Opposition, Political Process 2 Comments »College of Political Knowledge
Once upon a time…not so long ago….and in a land not so far a way…there lived two feuding families….let us call them thew Federalists and the Anti-Federalists…..they inherited a new land and they fought over how that land would be governed….they debated….they argued….they wrote published essays defending their points of view….and after much debate and exchanges a compromise was settled upon and that settlement was the Constitution of the United States……
It seems that the Federalists thought that a strong central government was needed to protect the newly found country and the Anti-Federalists wanted a weak central government with a strong local one….but finally by 1787 they had compromised on what and how the nation would be governed…they set up the terms for the Pres and VP, the set up the freedoms…..they set up the conditions of government…..(I realize that this is a simplified and generalized history lesson, but that is NOT the meat of the post)
And once it was signed into law….they all lived happily ever after…..
Well not for long…..
The two sides were screaming along using the strengths of their new system of government….those being…the separation of powers to discourage the concentration of power and the checks and balances that kept each branch of government from over stepping its bounds and without a party domination the reps could be more centered on what the people wanted…..but the years dragged by….the country twisted and turned in the wind….but it made it on its own and became a shining light for the world to see……
But all was not good on the horizon….after 200 years of solid and good government cracks began to form in the foundation of the system…..these weaknesses were the very strengths it had in the past…the separation of power started fragmenting the system and began rendering the system immobile (nothing was being accomplished)…without a party dominated system the voters could not pin responsibility to anyone in particular and that lead to the break down of the system even further…the voter was used to set the political agenda that did not really apply to them in the least and finally the voter has to wait for anb election to rid itself of worthless adventurism of the politicians that are in it for their own glory and benefit not the interests of the country…….
The kingdom adjusts to fit the situation…..but the adjustments were beginning to fail to bring the success to the marriage of the two families….slowly but slowly the nation was dying and the leaders, all the leaders were standing on the oxygen tube while debating the need to stand aside and let the patient heal……this system is slowly becoming obsolute because of the partisan crap of its leaders……if it is to survive then the people will have to do it themselves and ignore the rumblings of the leaders that care not what happens….their only concern is that they retain the power and the purse strings…..DOOM is eminent!
The “Constitutive Will” Of The People
Posted: 12 April 2010 Filed under: Government, History, Politics, Professor's Classroom, Society | Tags: American History, Founding Fathers, Historical Events, Political Debate, US Constitution 5 Comments »Professor’s Classroom
Subject: American History/Political Theory
Paper #9
There is lots of talk these on blogs and discussion forums about the American people being sheep…..it is not a Right/Left thing….both sides feel that Americans are incapable of making a valid decision on their own….that they need the media and politicians and the rest to make the decisions for them…are they, the American voter, lazy, ignorant or just stupid? Another question…is it true? Are the American people sheep?
Well……thinking…..YES they ARE sheep! But when did it happen? When did Americans give up their reason and free choice? An excellent question…..and deserves an answer….
Back in the days of Grad school I took a course entitled, “American Political Thought” and that was a battle from the get go between myself and the professor….we did not agree on much and the debate pretty much took the whole class up….anyway…I digress….the course was about the political thought that went into the making of the USA….especially the Constitution….it covered the many players or should I call them Founders? Now this brings us to the title……the course was where I was introduced to “constitutive will” of the people…..
“Constitutive Will” of the people…….to have the power to institute, establish or enact……which implies that the people of the Colonies wanted establish a representative democracy when the Constitution was being debated…..now this is where my problem begins…
You know during my research I could find NO papers that showed that the people of the Colonies were ever consulted or asked what they wanted from a new government…..so when I see historians say stuff like the founders were deliberating as a people with the end of producing a new constitution that would embody their “constitutive will”……I ask where and who consulted the people?
Let us stop writing b*llshit about our beginnings! The Constitution was argued, debated and written by wealthy landowners and merchants….the people were not consulted…..their, the Founders, only concern was to protect the rights of the wealthy and to give the rest of the Colonists the illusion that if it somehow benefited the rich then the rest of the people were in good shape……in other words the Founders decided what was best for the rest of America and it has been that way ever sense…..
And that brings us to day…..our election process is just a continuation of the first batch of guys deciding what is best for the rest of us…..nothing about the process reflects what is truly the will of the people…..issues are decided on by the parties and then taken on the road and sold to the people as in their best interests.
The “Constitutive Will” of the people is a MYTH! The people have NEVER been the focus of government!
And The Constitution Says–Part 2
Posted: 16 December 2009 Filed under: Government, Observations, Politics | Tags: Conservatives, Constitutional Law, Political Debate, Political Games, Republicans, US Constitution Leave a comment »As anyone who reads my posts know that I am always on the lookout for stuff about the US Constitution….because too many people use it without reading it….
Since so many conservatives like to stand on the Constitution in opposition to anything Democratic….I then like to find the stuff that dreams are made of to rebut some of their BS…….basically, what I enjoy doing is to show that the people that use the Constitution as a defense against anything political is hypocrisy…..why?….it is obvious that they have not read nor understood the very document that they have pledged to protect……
Once again it is a Republican that has done something that is unconstitutional…and this time it is a minor voice of the GOP…..Charles Boustany (R-LA)….you might recall this gentleman…he was the voice of the minority after the Obama address to the joint session of Congress….you remember…the speech where another Repub yelled out, “you lie!”…..
Sorry I digress…..recently there came a report of a situation that involved Boustany
As written in the Daily Kos:
Congressman Boustany once attempted to buy an English Title. There was one small problem … it was a fraud (pdf alert).
http://www.dailykingfish.com/…Apparently, two con artists hoodwinked dumb wealthy Americans like Congressman Boustany into believeing they could buy an English title, which would give them all sorts of goodies like being called Lord Boustany and a seat to ride in the Queen Mum’s 100th Birthday celebration back in the mid-1990′s.Most millionaires like Congressman Lord Boustany would let the money go. But not Congressman Lord Boustany. Noooo.
He filed a lawsuit that never went anywhere in Lafayette Parish, and it is available to the public. Here is a link to all three pages of the complaint, but the most relevant one is page 2, which shows how much he paid for the Title – $18,500 – and lists both his name and that of his wife in the pleading, and why they are filing suit.
http://www.dailykingfish.com/…
There is one small problem with the thing if he had been successful in obtaining his title….that problem is in Article 1 Section 9, which reads:
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.
The key to it is the last paragraph of the Article……….”No Title of Nobility……or title of any kind whatever…..”
Now if Boustany had been successful he would have violated the Constitution….the very document that he has sworn to uphold……what a moron!
I post this to show that our “leaders” are idiots and at best have not read the document that they use frequently to oppose any issue…or maybe he thought that it would put him on the fast track to the Senate….after all it is our version of the House of Lords……
The Battles To Come
Posted: 20 November 2009 Filed under: Energy, Government, Immigration, News, Observations, Politics | Tags: Cap And Trade, Energy Debate, Environmental issues, Political Debate, Political Drama, Political Theater 2 Comments »This year is quickly coming to a close and the major battle has been the health reform issue…it is debatable that it will be solved before the end of the year….but for the sake of argument and this post….we will say that it is…..
But what will be the burning issues in the coming year? In my opinion, it will be one of two, possibly both, immigration and energy…..most likely the biggest and loudest will be the energy issue…..and within the debate on energy the NEW evil will be the “cap and trade”……but what the Hell is “cap and trade”?
Good question, because there is probably NO one outside of the Washington debate that really knows what it isa….other than some BS about taxes and a rise in the power bills…..
Just thought I would give my readers a little heads up before they are bombarded with the crap being slung by both sides of the political spectrum….good luck…
The biggest sticking point on any energy bill will be “cap and trade”….thius from the EPA website:
The cap and automatic penalties for noncompliance ensure that the environmental goal is achieved and maintained.
- The cap provides market value and certainty.
- Trading and banking allow companies to choose compliance options.
- Trading and banking minimize costs through compliance flexibility.
The cap ensures that the reductions are achieved and maintained over time even as new power plants are built. The trading program gives power plants the flexibility to choose how they meet their target emission reductions, which minimizes compliance costs and lowers consumer electricity prices.
- EPA distributes allowances equal to the cap amount. (For example, in the Acid Rain Program each allowance authorizes one ton of emissions).
- Sources have flexibility to choose how to meet their limits – by reducing their own emissions or purchasing allowances from other sources.
- Sources measure and report emissions, and must have sufficient allowances to cover their emissions; significant automatic penalties apply for noncompliance.
- Near-perfect compliance – Compliance with the Acid Rain Program has been an unprecedented success (over 99%).
- Early reductions – Reductions in the early years of the program averaged 25% below allowable levels, resulting in early benefits to human health and the environment.
- Air quality improvement – Emission cuts resulted in air quality improvements over a broad area of the U.S. and significant reductions in acid rain.
- Cost savings – The Acid Rain Program cost 75% less than originally projected.
- Innovation – A monetary value for lower emissions creates the right incentives.
- Integrity – High accountability and transparency provide credibility.
- Support – The Acid Rain Program enjoys a high level of acceptance by environmental organizations and industry, and bipartisan Congressional support.
There you go sports fans….that is the official EPA stand on how cap and trade will work….now the Repubs will have a different point of view….
‘Cap-and-trade’ is code for increasing taxes, killing American jobs, and raising energy costs for consumers. Middle-class families are struggling during this recession, and the last thing they need is even higher costs of living and weaker job security, which is exactly what ‘cap-and-trade’ would deliver.
The so-called “cap and trade” proposal amounts to a carbon tax, plain and simple. The plan would cap emissions, such as carbon dioxide, and force companies to purchase “credits” from companies who use less energy to meet the governments’ emissions requirements. House Republicans agree that we should work together to make real progress in promoting clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment, but “cap and trade” is not the answer.
What will it be tax or no tax? Next year this debate should turn into yet another political circus of misinformation, lies and games…my question is what will be the vehicle for the silliness?
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