The more things Hopeandchange…
[Posted by Karl]
As Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her minions work on buying enough votes from farm state Democtrats to squeak an unread version of the cap-and-trade boondoggle through the House, it might be easy to feel discouraged about the state of American politics. However, the most significant part of the story is the degree to which the Democratic leadership is having to buy votes to get their 1,300 page surprise package through the House, where their party not only holds a comfortable majority, but also controls the terms of debate. It will almost certainly be a different story in the Senate, where cap-and-trade is unlikely to surface until September at the earliest.
Moreover, there is the bigger picture:
There is a growing sense among Democrats that they will not be able to accomplish the entire agenda leaders set for 2009, pushing major policy debates into the midterm election year.
Concerns over the cost of overhauling the nation’s healthcare system have served as a wake-up call to lawmakers.
They had planned for a busy summer of healthcare and climate change debate, a dozen spending bills, a defense authorization and hearings on President Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) even promised to add a sweeping overhaul of immigration to that list.
But the revelation that revamping the nation’s healthcare model could greatly exceed $1 trillion over the next 10 years, along with an intra-party debate in the House on climate change legislation, has lawmakers feeling the weight of the packed agenda and sensing the need to narrow the list.
None of this should be surprising. History tells us that gridlock is the norm, and that significant legislation is approved with the same frequency, regardless of whether government is divided or united. Inexperienced Democratic presidents elected every 16 years or so since WWII promise Hopeandchange, and always run smack into the reality of our messy little Constitutional republic.
Barack Obama (and TIME magazine) may have thought the last election opened the door to the New New Deal, but history would again suggest the opposite. Democrats picked up 97 House seats in 1932; it was the only House between 1899 and the present day in which a majority of members were freshmen. The GOP House win in 1994 seems puny by comparison.
Moreover, we may well be looking at the Democrats’ high-water mark for the near term. Polls consistently find that Pres. Obama is more popular than his policies, and Obama’s personal popularity will likely decline as unemployment continues to rise through 2010.
None of which means the Right should not get upset over the prospects for cap-and-trade, or any of the other items on Obama’s “too much, too soon” agenda. To the contrary, vigorous opposition is a necessary part of the natural order of things. It does mean that if cap-and-trade passes in the House today, the Right can continue the fight tomorrow with a fair amount of confidence that the Left will find every next step at least as difficult as the ones they are taking today to squeak through the House they supposedly dominate.
—-
Update: As of noon EDT, the Democrats still did not have the votes, and are threatening to keep Congress open through the weekend until they have the votes.
Update x2: Waxman-Markey passes, 219-212 — a margin that sends cap-and-trade to the Senate with zero momentum. Indeed, one wonders if the last few Reps were reminded of how unlikely this bill was to return for final passage in a form resembling the bill that passed today.
–Karl
What will happen to America if cap and trade and Obamacare happen…
Joe (dcebbd) — 6/26/2009 @ 9:31 amThis fiasco paints a giant target on the States of IN, TX, and WV, all of which will be pummelled by this shiny unread package of crapola.
JD (9e0d25) — 6/26/2009 @ 9:40 amThe people voting on it haven’t even read the bill. That fact needs to be pushed, over and over again.
Haven’t even read the bill.
Maybe there should be an amendment added that a short quiz on each bill will be given, and any congresscritter failing that quiz loses six months salary.
Hey, if it is amendment, they wouldn’t even know they agreed to it!
Eric Blair (acade1) — 6/26/2009 @ 9:45 amMichael Goldfarb
Joe (dcebbd) — 6/26/2009 @ 9:53 amWaxman adds 300 page amendment overnight, how could anyone have time to read it. But then again, that’s the point, eh?
Dana (8d88ef) — 6/26/2009 @ 9:59 amAs much as I do agree with wanting to block the Democrats and hope this (cap & trade) and a public health care plan are stopped; I still believe that’s it not so much the Democrats that are at fault but the entire Federalist system.
I don’t want the Republican party saved if it means bringing back that kind of spending either. (Yes, I know, the spending was significantly less). The point is, the entire Federal Government is out of control.
One person’s “hope and change” is another person’s “@#$% and @#$%”. In reality, we are all losing because of it.
Perhaps Barack can be the stand-in for Jacko’s sold out tour – the Feds could use that revenue.
Corwin (ea9428) — 6/26/2009 @ 10:03 amHow many times is this going to happen? There are now over 1300 pages to this bill, and they have not even had the chance to read the bill prior to voting on it? It should be a job requirement to personally read the bill prior to voting on it, and a vote indicates a sworn oath that the throbbing member read the bill.
JD (431886) — 6/26/2009 @ 10:14 amRubber-stamp Congress.
A small group of powerful people put together “legislation”, the representative bodies rubber-stamp it, without reading it. Starting to become a pattern.
What totalitarian countries does this remind you of?
Congress had better wake up, if they want to retain any significance.
jodetoad (617c49) — 6/26/2009 @ 10:14 amThe Democrats’ War on the US Economy continues…
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/26/2009 @ 10:19 amGood one, SPQR. I am so going to steal that one.
JD (d606fc) — 6/26/2009 @ 10:23 amThe latest unconfirmed twaddle from teh Twitter:
1. Harry Reid told Andrea Mitchell that the Dems don’t have the votes in the Senate;
2. Pelosi, Hoyer, et al mobilizing AFL-CIO to call undecided members.
Karl (b3d6a0) — 6/26/2009 @ 10:49 ami hope it passes without any changes……
it would serve them right.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:02 amEarlier this morning, I caught a few minutes of Glenn Beck on the radio. A caller from Arizona said he had spoken with “our” representative who admitted he hadn’t read the bill but still planned on voting yes. And this man will take home his nice paycheck every two weeks, with no guilty feelings whatsoever.
I am ashamed to say this is my representative.
PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:09 amAs of 1:30 EDT, The Corner says the bill has been pulled.
it might be easy to feel discouraged about the state of Amewrican politics
Yes, it is very easy. The only consolation is that I am 71 years old and will not have to live with this as long as most of you will.
I just read a novel by Neville Shute that was new to me. I’ve read most of his books by now and they are still popular even though he died nearly 50 years ago.
This one was one of his Australia series, after he moved to Australia in the aftermath of WWII. He hated the Labour government and became convinced that England was finished. The novel I just read, titled “In the Wet” which is the rainy season of the Outback, is an unusual book and the reason I bring it up here is his idea about voting. In his fictional version of the future, Australia and Canada have adopted a system of multiple votes. Everyone gets one vote. Then they get additional votes up to seven based on having a family, earning an income, travel overseas and some other factors. It was all fanciful, of course, and Australia and Canada have not done as well as he thought they would do, but he shares my skepticism about pure democracy.
It may be that our decline began with the popular election of Senators, as some contend. There is also a tendency to act in a short-sighted manner that eventually destroys the economy. De Tocqueville feared this. Somewhere, we have lost the ability to govern ourselves wisely and it will destroy this country unless the public regains its common sense.
Maybe television has been the fatal factor. Certainly, based on my own experience, kids don’t read like they used to and that has affected education. Most of my kids eventually became readers but I worry that we will not be able to maintain the inventive genius of this country much longer. What has saved us this far is (legal) immigration of brilliant people seeking freedom. When we are no more free than the countries they are fleeing, what happens then ? Would Edward Teller or Andy Grove risk everything to get to Obama’s America ? I don’t think so.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:14 amPelosi must be waterboarding, bribing, or threatening someone right about now …
JD (e69a5a) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:15 amMike K,
This insanity was bound to happen. The real test is what will America do when we reach the breaking point?
All these ridiculous social programs started 80 years ago seemed impossible to cancel ten years ago. Once we reach the breaking point, we may be able to arise from the economic ashes with sustainability and personal responsibility. Sadly, it seems that going too far is the only possible way we can show the people that we all have to take care of ourselves.
I honestly don’t think we’ll reach the breaking point for quite a while yet, but we’re clearly headed to no other place.
Juan (bd4b30) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:19 amI’ll check out the Shute novel, Dr. K.
I wonder what percentage of Congress could identity those names? Even our so-smart President?
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:19 amIf you are going to read any Shute novels, I have a list of my favorites. This one is unusual in that it deals with reincarnation and religion. Most of it is about flying which is a major theme in most of his novels. There is an almost cult-like following and lots of people meet every year and talk about him. He was an engineer with many early patents in aircraft in the 1920s.
He was very pessimistic about England but did not anticipate Thatcher. Her effect is fading and I suspect England may look like his picture of it before too long. He had also written several prophetic novels that came true and, when he wrote “On the Beach,” it scared the s**t out of me and I very nearly dropped out of college. It took me a couple of years to get over that book and I still cannot read it again. It is just too sad.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:30 amState of play:
yes 206
no 211
undecided 17
vote scheduled for 5 p.m.
Karl (b3d6a0) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:36 amThis is a must read if you have skin in the markets–and most anyone with a retirement fund, your skin is in. But also if you want to see behind the curtain on how the next bubble is being assembled. Two alerts though, first the language has some rough spots and the text was merely scanned making reading a bit annoying. Sue the Fairy. And two, this is a long piece which is highly recommended to be read in its entirety for background. But for this thread topic, skip right down to Bubble #6.
Here comes the next bubble…
Financial Fairy (082e0e) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:44 amThe people voting on it haven’t even read the bill.
Eric, this congress’s usual MO is to vote whatever their staffs tell them to – they don’t care, but if the tea parties are any indication, they’re going to have lots of ‘splainin to do when they get home for recess.
Dmac (f7884d) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:49 amI know that, Dmac, and it reminds me of the “flappers’ in “Gulliver’s Travels.” Which shows that the whole business of “underlings running the show” is not new.
That’s why I like my “amendment” plan. But yeah, the underlings would catch it. And then probably insert text to give them raises.
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 6/26/2009 @ 11:51 am[…] Karl @ Patterico The more things […]
Greenpeace Joins Growing Opposition to Pelosi’s National Energy Tax - Steve_Foley’s blog - RedState (796605) — 6/26/2009 @ 12:03 pm[…] Michelle Malkin has the latest disgusting details from the House floor. The usual lively discussion over at Patterico’s. […]
Gazzer’s Gabfest » As if you needed more reasons to hate it… (b98ad6) — 6/26/2009 @ 12:15 pmIt would be hilarious if the staffers all conspired to add some line in a 2000 page bill stating that all staffers get a $1,000,000 bonus.
Juan (bd4b30) — 6/26/2009 @ 12:15 pm#18.- Hmmm. Depressing outlook from a 71 year old. That’s truly sad. As a child you’d have been penning these posts with paper and pencil then mailing them to a newspaper in hopes of an editor printing them. Today, you electronically post them in seconds for anyone on the planet– and off it aboard a space station– with a computer and a web connection to peruse. As our spacecraft probe the planets and our scientists unravel the riddles of the micro-universe, our economy retools and our youth rise to the new set of challenges in the face of fresh realities left to them by generations before them, I hold high hopes and a great sense of optimism for the changing future of our world and the United States. It may just be an America an individual of your years won’t recognize. It’s worth crediting Shute for novels like ‘On The Beach’ along with similar books of that era, ‘Fail-Safe’, ‘Seven Days In May’ etc., for sounding the alarm of what kind of world could have been and was in their time thankfully averted. Give yourself credit for being part of a generation that managed to avoid Armageddon in an era that when it had a very real chance of happening.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/26/2009 @ 12:25 pmYes, i agree it’s worth crediting Shute for books Shute wrote.
It’s depressing that Obama is furthering a lot of the social problems that Shute feared the Labour party for.
It’s depressing that DCSCA makes jokes about people losing their hair and dying of cancer.
Juan (bd4b30) — 6/26/2009 @ 12:40 pm#14 — Comment by Mike K — 6/26/2009 @ 11:14 am
I share your frustration. Perhaps this old Chinese proverb sums it up:
“From rags to riches and back again in three generations.”
–
Maybe our current generation is in some multiple of three.
Mike K, at 70ish, you must know the stories of the Great Depression and WWII by people that lived through it.
Prior to that, we had a Civil War and before that, we had our Capital burnt to the ground. Our nation always goes through these cycles.
I kinda look at it like this:
It isn’t that we as a nation have found the secret to a perfect society; rather we have the ability to come-back from enormous problems, time and time again. As a nation, we typically do so in a spectacular way — often reshaping the world for the better.
Today, the third generation (or some third multiple therein) is failing. Observe the corruption, deceit, and falsehoods needed to justify current administration’s positions and processes (often polices and political endeavors that have always failed historically – shades of fascism, socialism, etc). It will crumble.
Then witness the American Experiment at its best. The (re)rise of the founding values of Freedom and Liberty and all that that implies (capitalism, honor, strength, progress…).
We are in a front row seat.
Pons Asinorum (b26ed0) — 6/26/2009 @ 12:44 pmPons, as an experiment, read a child’s book from 1912 or from 1930. When I was in the 8th grade, I found my older cousin’s high school world history textbook. It was well written so that it read like a novel. It began with the Doric invasion of Greece and had a chapter on the Punic wars.
Then, read this story.
Locke High School English teacher Katy Bridger tried to give her fifth-period seniors a test while Byron Gordon sharpened pencils noisily, Deon Crockett wandered the room complaining at full volume and a girl cursed just as loudly at Deon for being rude. Daniel Dominguez dozed in the back.
Pressing on, Bridger, a 23-year-old recent political science graduate from Tennessee, told students to put away their cellphones and iPods. One student demanded to know why, muttering the F-word.
Admittedly, that is a bad example but even middle class schools no longer teach algebra or world history. College freshmen cannot write an essay.
Then there are stories like this.
The question is, can the voters tell the difference between an incompetent government and an unlucky one? Andrew Leigh, an economist at Australian National University, thinks not. In a recent article in the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, he looks at 268 elections held across the world between 1978 and 1999. He estimates how much of a country’s economic performance is due to booms in the world economy and how much is due to competent government – and whether the voters can tell the difference.
Both matter, but as far as the voters are concerned, it is better to be a lucky government than a skilful one. For instance, a one-percentage point increase in world economic growth above the norm is associated with a hefty rise in the chance that incumbents will be re-elected – from the typical chance of 57 per cent to a more than decent 64 per cent. A stellar domestic performance, outpacing world growth by one percentage point, contributes less than half as much to the chances of being re-elected, raising them from 57 to 60 per cent.
Why are voters so wretchedly ungrateful? The common-sense answer is that it is not easy to distinguish a lucky government from a skilful one. In addition – and this point is less obvious – an individual voter has little incentive to do so. We all know that elections are almost never decided by a single vote, and so each voter would be right to conclude that her vote is highly unlikely to make a difference.
Oh, well. Maybe we’ll get lucky.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/26/2009 @ 1:04 pmIt passed.
House Democrats narrowly won a key test vote Friday on sweeping legislation to combat global warming and usher in a new era of cleaner energy. Republicans said the bill included “the largest tax increase in American history.”
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/26/2009 @ 1:11 pmThe vote was 217-205 to advance the White House-backed legislation to the floor, and 30 Democrats defected, a reflection of the controversy the bill sparked.
Mike K: according to that link, it has only passed a procedural test – what looks like a vote by the Committee of the Whole to send the bill to the floor.
It’s still possible for it to be defeated on the floor.
Unlikely, perhaps.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 6/26/2009 @ 1:15 pmThose tariffs in Waxman-Markey are already having an effect …
Neo (46a1a2) — 6/26/2009 @ 1:42 pmA Chinese firm’s bid to buy the gas-guzzling Hummer car brand will be blocked on environmental grounds, according to Chinese state radio.
Steve Rattner call your office
This should be embarassing to the Dems and their supporters.
JD (e5f48b) — 6/26/2009 @ 1:48 pmMy rep, Sheila Jackson Lee, will vote yes no matter what. Guess she doesn’t care that half her gerrimandered district is low income and the other half pays taxes because they work for energy companies. Did get through to her office this morning as was assured that she had indeed read the entire bill. Hate, hate, hate being lied to by my government.
houstonian (13a52f) — 6/26/2009 @ 1:49 pm#28- Play the cut, “Kids!” sung by Paul Lynde, from the Broadway sountrack of ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ of nearly 50 years ago. Same lament. Somehow, in spite of their parents, the kids turned out just fine.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/26/2009 @ 1:49 pmShut up, IMP.
JD (e5f48b) — 6/26/2009 @ 1:56 pmhoustonian, the 4th ward is a sick proof that Texas is not perfect.
I can’t believe the audacity of telling you Lee read that bill! 300 pages of it didn’t exist yesterday! Of course she didn’t read it!
I wonder if she’d admit reading it to a camera. In a few years, when this bill is known for what it is, I suspect a lot of politicians will hide behind the fact they didn’t read it.
It’s a crisis and we can’t dot all the ‘i’s when Greenland is melting, you see.
Juan (bd4b30) — 6/26/2009 @ 2:09 pm#20-FF
Chris (a24890) — 6/26/2009 @ 2:21 pmThanks for that link. Fascinating article to say the least.
Point well taken Mike K, but my faith is not in them (members of the aforementioned third generation).
More like these:
I’ll take these over yours anytime, anywhere — and we’ll both win.
Pons Asinorum (b26ed0) — 6/26/2009 @ 2:26 pmI restate the obvious, but more Pons, less IMP. Please ?!
JD (54baf8) — 6/26/2009 @ 2:31 pmHow many people did Pelosi have to waterboard to move this enormous unread hopeychangey turd?
JD (54baf8) — 6/26/2009 @ 2:41 pmI like how cap & trade will not go into effect until 2012. Fucking cowards. If it is a good idea 4 years from now, why not 2 years? Or immediately? Because they know once the public realizes what this socialist utopian scheme is revealed in all its glory, people will be pissed. Hence people not being given the opportunity to see the amendments added under the cover of darkness. They should not be able to pawn this idea off on someone else down the road, just to protect their asses in the 2010 elections.
JD (54baf8) — 6/26/2009 @ 2:47 pmAce is reporting these are the congresspersons who are needing encouragement to do the right thing and vote NO on cap and trade:
Republicans:
Bartlett (MD) – (202) 225-2721
Bono Mack (CA) – (202) 225-5330
Castle (DE) – (202) 225-4165
Dent (PA) – (202) 225-6411
Ehlers (MI) – (202) 225-3831
Frelinghuysen (NJ) – (202) 225-5034
Gerlach (PA) – (202) 225.4315
Inglis (SC) – (202) 225-6030
Tim Johnson (IL) – (202) 225-2371
Kirk (IL) – (202) 225-4835
Lance (NJ) – (202) 225-5361
LoBiondo (NJ) – (202) 225-6572
Petri (WI) – (202) 225-2476
Platts (PA) – (202) 225-5836
Ros-Lehtinen (FL) – (202) 225-3931
Democrats:
Joe (dcebbd) — 6/26/2009 @ 3:04 pmAltmire (PA) – (202) 225-2565
Bright (AL) – (202) 225-2901
Dahlkemper (PA) – (202) 225-5406
Drieshaus (OH) – (202) 225-2216
Ellsworth (IN) – (202) 225-4636
Kissell (NC) – (202) 225-3715
Kratovil (MD) – (202) 225-5311
Kanjorski (PA) – (202) 225-6511
Minnick (ID) – (202) 225-6611
Teague (NM) – (202) 225-2365
I’m not as pessimistic as I guess I sounded but how many votes do those great kids have compared to all the ACORN inspired voters ? My ex-wife went back to teaching about 10 years ago after she was laid off in a bank merger. She had not taught since 1965. She was so shocked that she said she would home school if she were raising kids now. It isn’t just the kids; the teachers were typical union types.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/26/2009 @ 3:06 pmThe 300 pages of amendments inserted under cover of drakness appear to be extraordinarily horrific ideas, where Congress is going to go well beyond destroying our economy with simple cap & ytade, but muck with the entire real estate system as well.
JD (fb1fc9) — 6/26/2009 @ 3:36 pmBoehner is reading the 300 pages on the floor of the House. So far they have not been able to stop him.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/26/2009 @ 3:57 pmComment by Mike K — 6/26/2009 @ 3:06 pm
I’m not as pessimistic as I guess I sounded but how many votes do those great kids have compared to all the ACORN inspired voters?
Yeah, that’s going to be a problem (ACORN’s dead-people vote is worth what, a few million alone), but my money is still on the great kids.
Not sure if we have hit bottom, but its got to be close. BTW: Totally agree with your wife.
Pons Asinorum (b26ed0) — 6/26/2009 @ 3:59 pmMike K – Some of the things he is reading is absolutely extraordinary, in a horrific way. Teh One and the Dem’s War on the US economy continues apace.
JD (fb1fc9) — 6/26/2009 @ 3:59 pmComment by JD — 6/26/2009 @ 3:36 pm
Wow, scary.
Pons Asinorum (b26ed0) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:01 pmIs MJ still the lead story or is this being covered?
Pons Asinorum (b26ed0) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:02 pmIs MJ still the lead story or is this being covered?
Well Pons, if you jump over the LA Times homepage you will be greeted with a feature article from their gasbag music critic on the years he spent following MJ. Does that give you some indication of what the media is following?
JVW (a8c610) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:05 pmIn fact, on my screen you have to scroll down to get to any non-MJ news. In this age I guess that is the equivalent of being “above the fold.”
JVW (a8c610) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:07 pmDoes that give you some indication of what the media is following?
Perfect picture, thank you.
JVW, you have a way with words 😉
Pons Asinorum (b26ed0) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:13 pmMeanwhile, sadly, the big story from earlier this week — the one that actually ought to matter to us — appears to be getting worse as the authorities in Iran tighten the noose, pretty much literally.
JVW (a8c610) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:17 pmWhen the largest superpower on Earth is reduced to canceling a hotdog barbecue as its best and most powerful form of protest, pretty much the bad guys just got the green light.
Pons Asinorum (b26ed0) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:21 pmWell, the Democrats were barely able to pass their economy killing legislation in the House. I suspect that the Senate will be its graveyard.
Certainly, we better hope so.
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:25 pmIt’s like watching a car wreck.
Pons Asinorum (b26ed0) — 6/26/2009 @ 4:28 pm3 GOP Reps from NJ all voted for the bill.
The legacy of Christie Todd Whitman.
Shipwreckedcrew (7f73f0) — 6/26/2009 @ 5:08 pmI don’t know what the problem is with Mary Bono. She has been for it all along. I’d think her constituents in the desert would be thinking about electricity bills.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/26/2009 @ 5:15 pmWhat’s with this trend of naming legislation something akin to “A Candy For Every Baby” and then putting mandatory caning of all citizens in there?
Perhaps suppose bill authors are becoming increasingly aware that the content of the bill is irrelevant so long as it has a snappy-sounding name? I don’t know
Harvey M Anderson (a664fb) — 6/26/2009 @ 5:22 pmSo, this is your “very smart post” with
“good points” which single you out as a “logical political thinker,” “tho it’s not something [you] expect [your] Righty friends to embrace”? http://twitter.com/justkarl
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZz
george (e2ce05) — 6/26/2009 @ 5:22 pmI don’t know what the problem is with Mary Bono. She has been for it all along. I’d think her constituents in the desert would be thinking about electricity bills.
If you drive from Los Angeles to Palm Springs you are greeted by acres of power-generating (or not) windmills. I think the good people of Congresswoman Bono’s district have long bought into the alternative energy scam.
JVW (a8c610) — 6/26/2009 @ 5:26 pmAnd this gets passed when new evidence is piling up proving that GHG are not the primary or even a significant contributor to Global Warming. Check out this document from Alan Carlin of the EPA. He wrote this and submitted it to his boss, Al McGartland for inclusion in the internal discussions over the EPA role in GHG monitoring and CO2 emissions policy. His boss decided not to allow it to be distributed.
“The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision.”
“I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office.”
Al McGartland, PhD.
A later email message directed Alan Carlin that he was not to work on Global Climate Change projects in the future.
Jay Curtis (8f6541) — 6/26/2009 @ 6:29 pmDocument that was not allowed to be reviewed within the EPA
Email back and forth
[…] THE MORE THINGS HOPEANDCHANGE…from Patterico’s […]
SICK: DEMOCRATS HAVE CAP’N’TRADE FEEVAH – suzyrice.com/BIRD (47121e) — 6/26/2009 @ 6:37 pmgeorge – That was the most devastating riposte I have ever read. Well played.
JD (fb1fc9) — 6/26/2009 @ 6:58 pmI’d think her constituents in the desert would be thinking about electricity bills.
Nothing more absurd and idiotic than people worrying about global warming and yet choosing to live in a hot, sweaty, drought-ridden environment like Palm Springs. Sort of a variation of the ridiculousness of Barry Obama giving a speech in Illinois about 2 years ago regarding the perils of global warming that he drove to in his SUV–a type of vehicle he admitted to being a fan of.
BTW, John McCain, like Mary Bono, also was a big squish on environmental matters, or certainly on the horrors(!!) of AGW. So this straitjacketing of the economy had a lot of potential to be legislated into existence regardless how November 2008 turned out.
I wonder if this nonsensical carbon-dioxide-is-a-threat-to-mankind(!!) type of legislation will be somewhat analogous to the economy of the current era what Smoot Hawley was to the Great Depression? I understand Green-Earth neurosis (and laws ensuing from that) apparently has had exactly that kind of impact on the economy of Spain, no thanks to its very “leftie” government.
Mark (411533) — 6/26/2009 @ 9:26 pm“Inexperienced Democratic presidents elected every 16 years or so since WWII promise Hopeandchange, and always run smack into the reality of our messy little Constitutional republic.”
Part of this is new. This concept that everything needs 60 votes to pass the senate, for instance. That’s some new gridlock.
imdw (1b1354) — 6/27/2009 @ 6:53 amHow is some regulatory scheme supposed to be more efficient at fighting climate change than utilizing the information from the TTAPS study, one of the most groundbreaking scientific papers since “The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies”?
Michael Ejercito (833607) — 6/27/2009 @ 9:12 am[…] When the cap-and-trade boondoggle passed the House last Friday, I noted that the 219-212 margin sent the issue to the Senate with zero momentum. […]
The Greenroom » Forum Archive » The Sound and Fury of Cap and Trade (e2f069) — 6/30/2009 @ 7:38 am