by Harrison Price

How many trillions has President Obama doled out in the short time he’s been in office?  Looks like there’s yet another needy group of people who might win big if Cap and Trade passes: the very people it’s going to hurt.  That’s right… the Democrats are trying to pass one of the most destructive bills ever to the U.S. economy but they want to bribe the people who will be hurt most by it into submission and sock it to the taxpayers all to gain support in the energy industry:

Workers who lose their jobs if the pending climate change legislation becomes law could get a weekly paycheck for up to three years, subsidies to find new work and other generous benefits — all courtesy of Uncle Sam — under a little-noticed provision of the bill.

So let’s look at this for a moment… why the bribe (sorry I mean “assistance”)?  Basically because the Democrats know Cap and Trade will be a jobs killer robbing businesses of billions of dollars in profits every year all so they can pay Uncle Sam.  How much money are we talking about here anyway?

Adversely affected employees in oil, coal and other fossil-fuel sector jobs would qualify for a weekly check worth 70 percent of their current salary for up to three years. In addition, they would get $1,500 for job-search assistance and $1,500 for moving expenses from the bill’s “climate change worker adjustment assistance” program, which is expected to cost $4.2 billion from 2011 to 2019.

Just how many jobs are going to be lost?  Depends on who you listen to here are some estimates (low and high):

While the analysis assumes displaced workers will eventually find jobs, the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution predicts a net job loss of 0.5 percent over the first 10 years that carbon reduction legislation, called “cap-and-trade,” is in effect. The conservative Heritage Foundation found that by 2030 net job losses would top 1.1 million, while the Coalition for Affordable American Energy, an industry group, estimates that more than 3 million jobs would be lost by 2030 as a result of the cap-and-trade system.

Of course, there will be many people put out of work, companies will suffer financially, and the taxpayer (once again) will take it in the painful place as Obama racks up even more debt with the Chinese and other countries as they (for now) are willing to buy our IOUs.  The best part of the whole thing is we’ll be waiting until Obama’s term is over until we notice that giant sucking sound:

“I doubt there will be a bunch of people filing for assistance when the bill first launches because it won’t have a huge economic effect for at lease five years,” said James Heintz, associate director for the Political Economy Research Institute at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who co-authored a study on job creation under the bill.

I think the timing is pretty sweet for the president.  He can claim “victory” in “global warming” but won’t have unemployed Americans wanting to vote him out of office when he runs for re-election.

They say every time a bell rings an angel goes to heaven.  How much money does it cost us every time Obama opens his mouth?

by Dacia Nichol

There's this myth about FDR's "New Deal" - you know the one where it got us out of the Great Depression?  Anyone who's willing to delve into the depths of political incorrectness knows that's a load of you-know-what.  The truth?  WWII. Despite all the constitutionality and fiscal problems he got us into (and that we're still paying for), FDR did manage to save us from ourselves when he told us "We Can Do It".  He went from milk dumping in the streets to remanufacturing the American Spirit - we've all seen that poster of Rosie the Riveter with her guns a blazin'...  It's a great exemplary of the attitude of the day that we need to summon now.  Let's embrace the industrial spirit from the "good war" and transform it into a spirit to propel us forward into a new generation of prosperity.  Oh yeah - and maybe fix that little energy problem we keep crying over while we're at it.

CALL TO ACTION:  Let's build 100 new nuclear power plants in 20 years.

If you have not heard or read about U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander's May 27, 2009 speech at the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit on a nuclear power proposal, you are instructed to go read the transcript ASAP.  He outlines some of the usual objections to nuclear power and offers basic rebuttals (you can Google more details).  He explains why the various alternative energy proposals being thrown out there are not cost or space effective (read: wind and solar).  He even quotes T. Boone Pickens - you know, the oil man that's been pushing a huge alternative-energy agenda lately - when asked if he wanted wind turbines anywhere on his 68,000 acre ranch: "Hell no.  They're ugly."

The most important point however, is what his proposal could do for the United States as a whole:

1.  Produce 70% of our own energy (vs. using 25% of the world's energy as we currently do) - can we say energy independence? 

2.  Save the planet - if you're into all the "global warming" hoopla, here's your answer:  Nuclear power is clean!

3.  Create millions of jobs!  Let's get back into manufacturing people!  We'll build a nuclear construction industry - it'll outlast any "shovel ready" highway project.  Millions of jobs that will last 20 years+...what more can you ask for?

4.  Economic recovery!  Jobs (AMERICAN jobs I say!), cheap energy, no more oil wars...c'mon now!

You can't say that Obama's "Cash for Clunkers" or throwing billions into global warming research are better ideas.  What do we need them for if we have nuclear efficiency?  We have the solution, we have the means, and we have the spirit to get it done - let's do it!

After all...Barry wants to oh-so-badly be like France, right?

Earlier today, President Obama outlined the beginning steps to his "Green Agenda".  As a Republican, I believe that the Government's first priority is to protect Americans and weaning us off of foreign oil is a huge step towards protecting our citizens.  It is for this reason that I applaud the President taking the first steps in doing this.  That was my first thought.  As much as I care about the Polar Bears and the icecaps melting, etc, I am just not completely sold on man-made global warming yet- irregardless of Al Gore's nifty slideshows.  Freeing us from foreign oil though, thats a ship I'll get on. (Don't worry Al, a sailboat, not a diesel.) 

The next thought that went through my mind though was a relief that I don't work in the auto industry.  President Obama's agenda is of course a long-term goal.  He failed to mention the short-term effects this will create.  The struggling auto industry is ill-equipped to handle these new regulations right now.  They will make it happen, but the cost of doing so will be passed on to us in the form of higher prices and more bailout money.  These new requirements will be difficult enough for the car manufacturers.  The President will now push for the State's rights to increase their auto emission standards.  I understand and agree with the mentality of "if not now, when" but setting new Federal requirements for a beaten down industry is more than sufficient for the time being.  Let's not sweep the crutches out from under their arms now by insisting on too much too soon.