Cap and Trade

Also known as Waxman-Markey, or Waxman-Malarky, or Crap and Tax, depending on how much of it you've had a chance to read, has stalled in the Senate as most of the central states, that is the ones between Massachusetts and California, have noticed that the penalties on coal burning alone will largely shut them down.

Well, have no fear, for Sen. Boxer (D-Cali) and Sen Kerry (D-I still have the hat), our two best experts on the welfare of middle America, are teaming up to "fix" the bill.

Kerry last week sought to change the vernacular surrounding the climate bill and sell its concepts more broadly, insisting it is not a "cap and trade" proposal but a "pollution reduction" bill. "I don't know what 'cap and trade' means. I don't think the average American does," Kerry said. "This is not a cap-and-trade bill, it's a pollution reduction bill"

I guess it is, if you consider a paycheck a form of pollution. It looks like it will certainly take care of that problem.

It's in the Senate now, so that's only 2 calls to make to your Senators. Catchy words and phrases like "unemployed", "not contributing to the tax base", "not contributing to your voter base", and "tar and feathers, if you're lucky", will help grab their attention.

The big items on the agenda right now are facing a sort of deadline of Nov 4, as the loss of multiple governorships will likely spook some of the "blue dogs" away from the plantation. Remember, a "blue dog" is an otherwise ordinary Democrat who demands a high enough price for his vote to make him one of the last to get on board.