Pelosi: “Wholesome Dynamism” on Health Care

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D - California)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is attempting to rally legislators to move forward on Obama’s health care by declaring that everything’s okay and on schedule and the Congress is acting with “wholesome dynamism,” according to Fox News.

Huh?

Pelosi appears to be in denial of the truth.  The Democrats’ expensive health care reform legislation, which could cost $2 trillion or more inside a decade, is losing ground fast.  The bill  barely passed 2 committees – one by only 5 votes and the other by 4 votes.  A bipartisan group of six senators, including Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, is warning that they will not  be bullied into rushing the legislation through.

But yet Nancy Pelosi acts as if nothing is wrong!

Democrats, including the president, know that they have to act fast if they have any chance of getting this bill through.  The president’s popularity numbers continue to decline as people are waking up to the fact that Obama is all about spending and no real change.

Obama, with Pelosi’s support and Harry Reid in the Senate, is demanding that both houses of Congress ram his health care bill through before the August recess but it appears that more Dems are now bucking the president’s orders.  Democrats in both houses are now realizing that if they go along with the president, they will lose support at home with voters.  And, after all, each member of Congress is more concerned about keeping their own power rather than complying with the President, their party, Reid, or Pelosi.

Link: House Democrats Use Key Votes to Rally Support to Health Care Plan, Despite Hurdles | Fox News

 

Waxman & Dems Committee Pass Cap and Trade: Expect Higher Prices If It Becomes Law

The Washington Post is reporting that the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the controversial cap and trade bill, a 1,000-page document, giving committee members less than a week to review and debate it.

The committee, chaired by Democrat Henry Waxman (California) (see previous post “Will Waxman Get His Way?”) passed the measure 35 – 25 after late-night sessions.

If the bill passes the full House and Senate, it would impact everyone’s wallets.  The average family could see increases of over $4,000 “per year in a few decades,” according to the Washington Post.

It’s not certain whether this bill, as it stands now, will even get past the House because it has resistance not just from the Republicans but also from some Democrats who are concerned about its impact on industries including agriculture, according to the Washington Post.

The Washington Post reports that the Senate has never passed any cap and trade measure.

In their usual way of doing things, expect this bill to be amended and watered-down by the House and then again by the Senate.  But, if the Democratic majority does manage to get it to the President’s desk with its main features, we can all expect prices to go up on mostly everything including electricity, groceries, and consumer goods.

Instead of lawmakers putting through what is essentially another tax, why don’t they work on ways to offer incentives for power companies and other industries to break away from dependency on foreign oil?

Washington Post Link to story:  House Panel Passes Limit on Greenhouse-Gas Emissions – washingtonpost.com

 

Technorati Tags: cap and trade,Waxman,Washington,House,government,government and politics

 

Will Waxman Get His Way?

Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee worked late into the Washington night in their attempt to fast-track a 1,000-page energy bill without adequate debate.

Essentially, this energy bill, pushed by Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-California) and Representative Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts), would establish a cap and trade on carbon dioxide emissions and would increase electricity rates for consumers across the nation.

According to CNSNews, Waxman intends to ram the legislation through committee and “to conclude consideration of the legislation” by today.

Republicans object that there has not been adequate time – less than one week – to review the bill which is nearly a thousand pages.  Additionally, the minority party is concerned that the public is not aware of what this bill would do and its consequences to their wallets.

“Pass it now!  Explain it later,” is how Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas), the Committee’s minority leader, describes Waxman’s tactics which include bypassing an important subcommittee which would address the bill’s impact on industry.

Barton and other Republicans are accusing Waxman of jamming the bill through before lawmakers or the public know what’s going on “to skirt serious debate” on the bill, according to CNSNews.

A recent Rasmussen poll shows that less than 25% of voters even know what “cap and trade” is and that it has to do with environmental matters.  With these low numbers, there is justified reason to be concerned about quickly pushing legislation like this through Congress since the American public is not completely aware of how this policy can affect energy prices including for electricity.

Click here for more information on “cap and trade” or go to this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissions_trading

CNSNews Link:

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=48290

Technorati Tags: environment,cap and trade,Waxman,House,Barton,Markey,Politics,Government and politics,Government,Washington,politics as usual

 

Reform?

U.S. House approves credit card reform measure – washingtonpost.com.

H.R. 627 Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2009:  House Vote Results; Summary; Text

I have serious questions about the credit card reform bill which passed the House yesterday and is now moving on for a vote in the Senate.

Check out Section 7 of this bill:  “Prohibits extensions of credit to consumers under age 18, unless they are emancipated under state law.”

Huh?  Don’t we already have laws that prohibit any minor, unless legally emancipated, from entering into any binding contractual agreement (which a credit is a contract)?

Why is this section in the bill when it isn’t necessary?

Is it perhaps that we have allowed our lawmakers to permit our banking and credit industries to get so out of hand and unregulated that our legal system has been looking the other way as creditors break our own laws?

Or, is this a convenient way for setting up a forgiveness program for minors (who are now adults or will soon be adults) who have committed fraud by lying about their age to obtain a credit card, or to get their parents off the hook for what their kids did?  Or, is it a way to get the credit card companies off the hook who granted cards to kids because theydidn’t verify their age?

This is as irresponsible as those mortgage companies who extended credit to people who they knew could not afford the house.  Another form of bailout?

Technorati Tags: credit card reform,House,politics