Late last night, during yet another closed-door meeting in the House of Representatives, the liberal Majority maneuvered to bring the highly unpopular 946-page energy-rationing bill, better known as the Waxman-Markey cap-and-tax bill, to the House floor for a vote by the end of this week!
Sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, H.R. 2454 imposes a system of "cap-and-tax" in order to combat so-called "global warming." This massive, across-the-board household energy tax is being disguised by congressional liberals and is being sold under the slogan "cap-and-trade," which simply means giving the government power to put a cap on the amount of carbon emissions (CO2) produced by the production of electricity, gasoline, and heating oil, and forcing businesses to actively lobby Congress for higher cap levels and to buy permits for the emissions they are allowed.
Rather than calling it "cap-and-trade," it should be called "cap-and-tax"-as it caps Americans' standard of living and taxes our use of products whose manufacture emits CO2.
If passed and signed into law, H.R. 2454 will further cripple our economy and drain your pockets in the following ways:
- It will raise your household electricity rates by 90 percent, gasoline by 74 percent, and residential natural gas prices by 55 percent by 2035, after adjusting for inflation.
- It imposes an annual burden of $144.8 billion per year on U.S. households, and it will reduce household earnings by a projected $37.8 billion.
- It will further cut U.S. employment levels by 965,000 jobs by reducing economic output by $136 billion per year-this translates to a $1,145 increase in energy costs per American household.
- It will force low-income households to disproportionately bear the across-the-board energy cost increase, as a larger percentage of the poor's income goes toward energy costs, as opposed to wealthier households.
- It sets the stage to effectively kill the coal industry as it will be taxed so heavily, it will not be able to sustain itself.
Household energy taxation with the ultimate goal of energy-rationing is dangerous, not only for your pocketbook, but also for the well-being of your family and your standard of living.
H.R. 2454 is a hidden tax and it must be defeated this week in the House!
Take Action: The Democrat Majority has announced that amendments to this bill can be made no later than 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 25th. We expect a floor vote to occur soon after that, so please begin calling your Representatives and tell them to vote NO on cap-and-tax! Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Further Reading:
- Watch The Heritage Foundation's David Kreutzer discuss how Cap-and-Tax will raise your family's household energy costs!
- CBO's National Energy Tax Estimate, by House Republican Conference, June 23, 2009
- Democrats' Big Green Scam, by Phil Kerpen, June 23, 2009
- The Biggest Tax Increase in World History, by Myron Ebell
- Don't Fall for Cap and Tax, by Phyllis Schlafly
