In the usual party play House Democrats defeated a series of worthy amendments offered up by Republicans. Each of these amendments could have had significant economic value to low income Americans. Here’s the short list:

• Lee Terry (R-NE) an amendment to Cancel the law if the average price of gas reaches $5 a gallon
• Roy Blunt (R-MI) an amendment to cancel Title III (Cap and Trade) if electricity in a residential sector increases by 20%; when that was defeated
• George Radanovich (R-CA) offered to cancel Title III only if electricity increased by 100%
• Fred Upton (R-MI) offered an amendment to suspend the law if unemployment reached 15% as a result of the law

All very good ideas and clearly, each one had the American consumer in mind.  However, Democrats felt that they were simply ‘message’ amendments meant to make them look bad.  Well, it worked. I got the message and I think they look very bad. The thing is this bill has the potential of devastating families of little means.

As a citizen of California, I remember all too well the wholly fabricated energy crises of 2001. We had seniors who were turning off their electricity in the middle of heat waves to save money and we had energy bills that escalated into the high hundreds per month for a single family.  (Portland GE has warned of 120% increases in its electric bills.)You add this to the potential for major losses in our manufacturing and building sectors and we’re looking at a serious problem. You see, carbon caps will severely affect the paper, steel, aluminum, and the cement industries. The result is not only the exportation of the industries themselves, but also driving down the wages of the blue collar workers that deal in their products, such as factory workers and stone masons. America depends on blue collar workers for the stability of its middle class. We need to protect the manufacturing sector of our country and protect our low income neighbors from unfair legislation.

 If you agree, please email the above republicans and thank them for their efforts and then contact your local senator, no bombard your local senator with letters, emails and phone calls and demand that they do the right thing by the American wage earner and vote no on Cap and Trade, it doesn’t help the environment and it doesn’t help America. 

LB