PardalisGirl
Avid Member
Initial disclaimer.....I used to be a Republican. After the last election I became so disgusted with the lack of spine in the majority of the Republican leaders that I dropped my affiliation with that party. I now consider myself an Independent/Fiscal Conservative/Constitutionalist. I will only vote or support politicians who take a strong position on the principles of our US Constitution which mandates a small government footprint, low taxation and minimal government involvement with businesses and our personal lives. I believe that we should make sure that children, the disabled and the elderly receive a certain level of supportive care. But I believe that adults are responsible for their own lives and what they make of that life. What is going on today is the total opposite of what our country was founded on. It is the opposite of what allowed our country to prosper economically and provide financial support to many other countries around the world that depend upon our support. The stimulus spending, bailouts and takeovers since Obama has taken office has all but destroyed our economy. It will take several generations to pay for what has been done in just the first six months of 2009.
Last week the US House passed the Waxman-Markey bill (AKA Cap-and-Trade bill or American Clean Energy and Security Act). It passed quietly while everyone was mourning the passing of Michael Jackson. This bill is now in the Senate. It is the most significant piece of legislation that has EVER been presented. If passed, it will affect every American life for generations to come. Please take the time to research this bill yourself. Read what I have to say about it and then read what the economists and others say about this bill and it's future effect on the US economy. Decide for yourself if you like what is in this bill and what impact it might have on your life. The politicians pushing this bill are leaving huge chunks of information about it out of the public arena. When it passed the US House nobody except committee members had looked at the bill. They said it was not even complete. Republicans were not allowed to get near it. Republicans where given a small section of the thing to look at a day or two before the vote. The things that are known about this bill are extremely alarming to me. I can only wonder what other alarming items are in the majority of the bill which very few have actually seen.
I have made the study of our economy (and the global economy) and legislative issues a major hobby. I have a major business/economic background through my work experiences as a CPA. I spend hours a day studying the economy and legislative issues that effect it. This particular bill is the scariest thing I have ever seen being contemplated in Congress to date.
This bill creates a new environmental/energy agency to rate all homes and buildings for energy efficiency. Prior to the sale of any home or building an inspector must come out and rate the structure's roof, windows, insulation, doors, heating system, appliances, water heater, etc. for energy efficiency. Anything that does not meet a set standard must be replaced with something that meets the standard. The seller has to do this at their expense prior to any sale. You can not sell until the house/building is certified energy efficient. My husband and I have a pretty nice house. But it's 20 years old. The only thing that would pass inspection is our roof which we replaced two years ago. In order to sell our house we would basically have to remodel it and replace all the items I listed above except the roof. If we could afford to do that, we already would have. If your house is more than ten years old you can bet a lot of stuff would not pass the standards. How would you pay for this? Would you have to take out a 2nd mortage just to upgrade your house for sale? Can you get the financing to do this? How many first time buyers will be priced out of the market as the price of these upgrades are passed on to the buyer? There will be no "fixer uppers" available for first time buyers. This new regulation was in the portion of the bill that people were allowed to see in the last days before the House vote. What other horrid things are in it that have not been seen yet? And why would anyone vote on something they have not seen? In what world does that make sense?
Here are some other ways the economists think this bill will effect Americans.......The home energy cost for the average American will increase $1,000 per year. The energy costs for businesses will rise much more dramatically and they will lay off workers and charge higher prices to make up for it. Every single thing we buy will cost more. We will have less disposable income to pay for these things after we pay our home heating/cooling bills. Most economists say two jobs will be lost for every so called "green" job created. What is a green job? Can you think of one that you qualify for? American gas and oil companies will stop production in the US and import the oil/gas from other countries to sell here. This bill will actually INCREASE our dependence on foreign oil. American production will be taxed out of existence. US oil/gas workers will lose their jobs. All the oil our country owns will go untapped while we import less expensive oil and gas from countries without these energy taxes. Companies in general will move overseas and export jobs and production to countries who do not have these massive energy tax costs. Unemployment will skyrocket. Companies will not be able to compete in the world market if they produce in the US.
The most alarming thing about this bill is who will become rich from the passage of it. This bill will be, in effect, the largest tax assessment on businesses and individuals in American history. You will pay this tax as an individual through higher prices for everything. Maybe with your job. Where is this money going? None of it is going to help the poor or middle class. It is also not going to most of the "traditionally" rich people in America. Instead, most of this money is going to go to the owners and investors of the companies like General Electric (they have secured contracts in advance after massive political contributions) and to the people who will buy and sell the carbon tax "credits" on the market. These credits will become like stocks that can be traded on the market. The entities created to do this will make BILLIONS of dollars doing so. Al Gore, who owns one of these entities, stands to make over ONE BILLION dollars himself from this bill. This bill is going to create a whole new class of "energy" millionaires and billionaires. Most of the politicians pushing this bill, like Nancy Pelosi, have lots of personal money invested in the very entities that will get all this money.
And the truly sad thing is that this bill is not going to bring down overall worldwide carbon emissions. China and India and other countries have no intention of passing similar regulations. They will make up for our reduction of emissions as their economies grow and thrive. And they will grow and thrive as our economy fails and shrivels. They will welcome all the business and production our government drives out of the US. Our individual "footprint" will be forceably decreased. Our individual standard of living will decrease. The footprints and standard of living for individuals in these countries will increase proportionally and wipe out any overall reduction of carbon emissions.
PLEASE do some research on your own. If your research shows it to be as potentially destructive to our economy as I do, then start calling and writing your Senator. Pass your knowledge on to friends and relatives. You can have a different opinion on it than I do. That's fine with me. Feel free to tell me where you think I'm wrong too! I feel it is so important for individuals to look at this bill that I am willing to put my political opinions out there and risk having individuals on this forum "not like me anymore" just because of where I fit into the political spectrum. I'm taking that risk because I feel that if politicians and the media will not inform people properly than it is up to us as individuals to do it for them.
Last week the US House passed the Waxman-Markey bill (AKA Cap-and-Trade bill or American Clean Energy and Security Act). It passed quietly while everyone was mourning the passing of Michael Jackson. This bill is now in the Senate. It is the most significant piece of legislation that has EVER been presented. If passed, it will affect every American life for generations to come. Please take the time to research this bill yourself. Read what I have to say about it and then read what the economists and others say about this bill and it's future effect on the US economy. Decide for yourself if you like what is in this bill and what impact it might have on your life. The politicians pushing this bill are leaving huge chunks of information about it out of the public arena. When it passed the US House nobody except committee members had looked at the bill. They said it was not even complete. Republicans were not allowed to get near it. Republicans where given a small section of the thing to look at a day or two before the vote. The things that are known about this bill are extremely alarming to me. I can only wonder what other alarming items are in the majority of the bill which very few have actually seen.
I have made the study of our economy (and the global economy) and legislative issues a major hobby. I have a major business/economic background through my work experiences as a CPA. I spend hours a day studying the economy and legislative issues that effect it. This particular bill is the scariest thing I have ever seen being contemplated in Congress to date.
This bill creates a new environmental/energy agency to rate all homes and buildings for energy efficiency. Prior to the sale of any home or building an inspector must come out and rate the structure's roof, windows, insulation, doors, heating system, appliances, water heater, etc. for energy efficiency. Anything that does not meet a set standard must be replaced with something that meets the standard. The seller has to do this at their expense prior to any sale. You can not sell until the house/building is certified energy efficient. My husband and I have a pretty nice house. But it's 20 years old. The only thing that would pass inspection is our roof which we replaced two years ago. In order to sell our house we would basically have to remodel it and replace all the items I listed above except the roof. If we could afford to do that, we already would have. If your house is more than ten years old you can bet a lot of stuff would not pass the standards. How would you pay for this? Would you have to take out a 2nd mortage just to upgrade your house for sale? Can you get the financing to do this? How many first time buyers will be priced out of the market as the price of these upgrades are passed on to the buyer? There will be no "fixer uppers" available for first time buyers. This new regulation was in the portion of the bill that people were allowed to see in the last days before the House vote. What other horrid things are in it that have not been seen yet? And why would anyone vote on something they have not seen? In what world does that make sense?
Here are some other ways the economists think this bill will effect Americans.......The home energy cost for the average American will increase $1,000 per year. The energy costs for businesses will rise much more dramatically and they will lay off workers and charge higher prices to make up for it. Every single thing we buy will cost more. We will have less disposable income to pay for these things after we pay our home heating/cooling bills. Most economists say two jobs will be lost for every so called "green" job created. What is a green job? Can you think of one that you qualify for? American gas and oil companies will stop production in the US and import the oil/gas from other countries to sell here. This bill will actually INCREASE our dependence on foreign oil. American production will be taxed out of existence. US oil/gas workers will lose their jobs. All the oil our country owns will go untapped while we import less expensive oil and gas from countries without these energy taxes. Companies in general will move overseas and export jobs and production to countries who do not have these massive energy tax costs. Unemployment will skyrocket. Companies will not be able to compete in the world market if they produce in the US.
The most alarming thing about this bill is who will become rich from the passage of it. This bill will be, in effect, the largest tax assessment on businesses and individuals in American history. You will pay this tax as an individual through higher prices for everything. Maybe with your job. Where is this money going? None of it is going to help the poor or middle class. It is also not going to most of the "traditionally" rich people in America. Instead, most of this money is going to go to the owners and investors of the companies like General Electric (they have secured contracts in advance after massive political contributions) and to the people who will buy and sell the carbon tax "credits" on the market. These credits will become like stocks that can be traded on the market. The entities created to do this will make BILLIONS of dollars doing so. Al Gore, who owns one of these entities, stands to make over ONE BILLION dollars himself from this bill. This bill is going to create a whole new class of "energy" millionaires and billionaires. Most of the politicians pushing this bill, like Nancy Pelosi, have lots of personal money invested in the very entities that will get all this money.
And the truly sad thing is that this bill is not going to bring down overall worldwide carbon emissions. China and India and other countries have no intention of passing similar regulations. They will make up for our reduction of emissions as their economies grow and thrive. And they will grow and thrive as our economy fails and shrivels. They will welcome all the business and production our government drives out of the US. Our individual "footprint" will be forceably decreased. Our individual standard of living will decrease. The footprints and standard of living for individuals in these countries will increase proportionally and wipe out any overall reduction of carbon emissions.
PLEASE do some research on your own. If your research shows it to be as potentially destructive to our economy as I do, then start calling and writing your Senator. Pass your knowledge on to friends and relatives. You can have a different opinion on it than I do. That's fine with me. Feel free to tell me where you think I'm wrong too! I feel it is so important for individuals to look at this bill that I am willing to put my political opinions out there and risk having individuals on this forum "not like me anymore" just because of where I fit into the political spectrum. I'm taking that risk because I feel that if politicians and the media will not inform people properly than it is up to us as individuals to do it for them.
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