Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is set to take charge of new legislation aimed at imposing a national energy tax on all Americans, according to Greenwire, the news service for all things environment (article available on the Senate Republican Environment and Public Works “EPW” Press Blog here.)
Called “cap-and-trade” or “climate change” or “global warming” legislation, the new attempt to place a crippling national tax on America’s energy resources is being cobbled together by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). According to the new report, the trio will not formally introduce the bill in the Senate when it’s unveiled next week.
“If we introduce it, it'll get referred to committees,” Lieberman said. “We want him to be able to work with it and bring it out onto the floor as a leader whenever he's ready.”
This opens the doors for more Reid backroom deals on the bill instead of going through the normal committee process.
“We'll unveil a full legislative language bill for discussion, for people to respond to, to see where we are,” Kerry told Greenwire. “It'll be up to the majority leader at that point where he wants to proceed.”
But all’s not well in enviro-Senate Democrat heaven. According to the report there are already turf battles brewing in the attempt to cut deals behind closed doors then rush the massive tax through the Senate.
“These bills need to go through committee,” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said in the report. “If you're talking about making major deals on energy policy, it needs to go through the Energy Committee. If you're making major deals on tax policy, it needs to go through the Finance Committee. I mean, if you want to get it done.”
I asked Matt Dempsey, Communications Director for Sen. Jim Inhofe's (R-Okla.) EPW Republicans about this new development.
“Even before Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman introduce their global warming cap and tax bill, they are looking for every opportunity to circumvent the Committee process,” Dempsey told HUMAN EVENTS. “Given the success of the Democrats ability to cut deals behind closed doors to pass a health care bill, expect them to use the same game plan for cap and tax legislation.”
The backroom deal process is becoming the new normal. We call this “corruption” in third word countries.
