Redstate

By haystack Posted in AGW | Congress | Energy Bill | House of Pain | Tax and Spend — Comments (13) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Senate bill S. 3044 is slithering its way through the Senate right now. Guess what "Congress finds" that has made them believe they need a new law ("Consumer-First Energy Act")?

(1) excessive prices for petroleum products have created, or imminently threaten to create, severe economic dislocations and hardships, including the loss of jobs, business failures, disruption of economic activity, curtailment of vital public services, and price increases throughout the economy;

(2) those hardships and dislocations jeopardize the normal flow of commerce and constitute a national energy and economic crisis that is a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare of the United States;

(3) consumers, workers, small businesses, and large businesses of the United States are particularly vulnerable to those price increase due to the failure of the President to aggressively develop alternatives to petroleum and petroleum products and to promote efficiency and conservation;

(4) reliable and affordable supplies of crude oil and products refined from crude oil (including gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and jet fuel) are vital to the economic and national security of the United States given current energy infrastructure and technology;

Of COURSE it's the President's fault...after all, he writes the legislation and votes on it and then signs it into law...all by his own little onesies...

the rest of the list of "failed Presidential policies" below the stinking fold..

(5) the price of crude oil and products refined from crude oil (including gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and jet fuel) have skyrocketed to record levels and are continuing to rise;

(6) since 2001, oil prices have increased from $29 per barrel to levels near $120 per barrel and gasoline prices have more than doubled from $1.47 per gallon to more than $3.50 per gallon;

(7) the record prices for crude oil and products refined from crude oil (including gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, and jet fuel)--

(A) are hurting millions of consumers, workers, small businesses, and large businesses of the United States, and threaten long-term damage to the economy and security of the United States;

(B) are partially due to--

(i) the declining value of the dollar and a widespread lack of confidence in the management of economic and foreign policy by the President;

(ii) the accumulation of national debt and growing budget deficits under the failed economic policies of the President; and

(iii) high levels of military expenditures under the failed policies of the President in Iraq; and

(C) are no longer justified by traditional forces of supply and demand;

(8) rampant speculation in the markets for crude oil and products refined from crude oil has magnified the price increases and market volatility resulting from those underlying causes of price increases; and

(9) Congress must take urgent action to protect consumers, workers, and businesses of the United States from rampant speculation in the energy markets and the price increases resulting from the failed domestic and foreign policies of the President.

Reid reportedly is going for cloture on THIS mess early next week (presumably not allowing for any Republican amendments). He's apparently holding off on this particular disaster until after he gets cloture on S. 3036, which (you might recall) is the bill that's going to destroy the economy in the name of breaking the Planet's fever.

You have time to call your Senators...do it. Windfall profits taxes on big business will force them to pass the costs on to us. Global warming taxes (cap and trade on carbon emissions) will ALSO force businesses to pass on these costs to us.

Am I the only one getting a little tired of Congress giving us a shiv in the short ribs?