Today in Washington D. C. - June 6, 2008
On The Floor: The Senate reconvened with little fanfare and voted early this morning against cloture on the Boxer Climate Tax bill (S. 3036). making its future prospects uncertain at best. The cloture motion failed, 48-36, falling far short of the 60 votes required. No further votes today. On Tuesday, a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the Democrats’ energy bill (S. 3044) is expected. Yesterday, the Senate passed the farm bill fix (H.R. 6124).
From Senate & News Sources: The Washington Post reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may simply pull the bill from the floor. Reid filed for cloture on Wednesday after blocking Republican amendments in the wake of Republicans forcing the clerk to read the entire 492 page substitute amendment. Republicans were actually eager to continue debate on the sweeping bill. The Wall Street Journal explains, “[T]he timing of the debate -- with gasoline prices hovering near $4 a gallon on average -- appeared to benefit the bill's opponents, who argued that the measure amounted to a stealth tax on consumers. They said the reductions would put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage against countries like China that don't impose emission caps, and create arbitrary winners and losers.” As Sen. McConnell told The Wall Street Journal, “You can’t cram a measure of this magnitude down the throat of the United States Senate or the American people with that little scrutiny or observation.”
Headlines today certainly didn’t help the bill’s prospects. The AP reports on a new study by the International Energy Agency which concludes that the world would need to spend $45 trillion in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Another AP story noted that the Boxer bill “would require power plants, refineries and factories to reduce their carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 19% by 2020 and by 71% by 2050,” a more ambitious target than the 50% reduction the IEA study was discussing. Though the Senate bill was aimed only at reducing domestic emissions, it’s clear that massive costs are associated with meeting such targets, even on a smaller scale.
Tags: Boxer Climate Tax farm tax fix, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
From Senate & News Sources: The Washington Post reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid may simply pull the bill from the floor. Reid filed for cloture on Wednesday after blocking Republican amendments in the wake of Republicans forcing the clerk to read the entire 492 page substitute amendment. Republicans were actually eager to continue debate on the sweeping bill. The Wall Street Journal explains, “[T]he timing of the debate -- with gasoline prices hovering near $4 a gallon on average -- appeared to benefit the bill's opponents, who argued that the measure amounted to a stealth tax on consumers. They said the reductions would put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage against countries like China that don't impose emission caps, and create arbitrary winners and losers.” As Sen. McConnell told The Wall Street Journal, “You can’t cram a measure of this magnitude down the throat of the United States Senate or the American people with that little scrutiny or observation.”
Headlines today certainly didn’t help the bill’s prospects. The AP reports on a new study by the International Energy Agency which concludes that the world would need to spend $45 trillion in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Another AP story noted that the Boxer bill “would require power plants, refineries and factories to reduce their carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 19% by 2020 and by 71% by 2050,” a more ambitious target than the 50% reduction the IEA study was discussing. Though the Senate bill was aimed only at reducing domestic emissions, it’s clear that massive costs are associated with meeting such targets, even on a smaller scale.
Tags: Boxer Climate Tax farm tax fix, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 10:27 AM - Post Link
1 Comments:
Doesn't matter, 2009 it or something like it will be signed anyways...*sigh*
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