Congratulations, you’re in the top 5% on earners!

In his campaign for the office he currently holds, Obama pledged not to tax anyone but the top 5% of earners. Of the remaining 95%, he emphasized his pledge by saying they would not see their tax increase “not one dime.” Six months later, he has already broken his promise.

Earlier this week the House passed the Cap and Trade bill. This bill caps the amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants that a company can emit into the atmosphere. If a company exceeds that cap, it must buy carbon credits from another company that has not exceeded its limit. Proponents of this bill claim that by capping the emissions and gradually lowering that cap we can save the planet from the eternal boogeyman of Global Warming.

Already the rational for the bill is falling apart. A suppressed EPA report requested by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., states that although CO2 emissions have increased in recent years, temperatures have declined. (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/29/gop-senator-calls-inquiry-supressed-climate-change-report/)
In fact, there is still no consensus that global warming is due to man-made causes. Furthermore, the last ten years have actually seen a global cooling, not warming. (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/07/01/no_climate_debate_yes_there_is/)

So why pass a bill that taxes emissions? In Obama’s own words:
“Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket . . . because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, natural gas, you name it . . . Whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money, and they will pass that [cost] on to consumers…If somebody wants to build a coal-fired plant, they can, It’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.’’

As the cost of energy skyrockets, conservation will become a necessity for the poor, elderly, and young adults. The very people Obama and the democrats claim to be for! Businesses will lay off employees and raise prices in an effort to stay in business despite the huge tax increase. Many of these operations will be shipped overseas to avoid the legislation. (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestvoices/2009398877_cap-and-trade_is_this_climate.html)

As we lose these jobs to the emerging economies of high polluting countries like India and China, the net result will be more carbon in the atmosphere and fewer jobs for Americans. Everyone loses.