Saturday, June 27, 2009

What a Lovely Shade of Quisling Green

Eight Republican representatives bought into the Cli-Fi nonsense touted by Obama, Pelosi and Arch Druid Gore and voted in favor of the cap-and-trade legislation (a switch of even four would have doomed the bill’s passage).

I was curious to see whether these folks had anything to say on their official web sites in justification of their support for this economic wrecking-ball. Here’s a sampler.

Mary Bono Mack (California)
Washington, Jun 18 - Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (CA-45) today issued the following statement on climate change legislation, urging the Majority to allow more time for bipartisan negotiations on the bill before it heads to the House floor for a vote:

“Any bill of this magnitude deserves bipartisan consideration and input,” said Bono Mack. “It is clear that Members on both sides of the aisle have deep concerns about multiple issues within this legislation, and I appreciate the Speaker’s willingness to meet with Republicans today to identify these issues as we move forward.

“As I noted in Committee, this climate change bill is far from perfect but sets us on an important path toward a greener, more sustainable energy future. By allowing this legislation to be fully evaluated and incorporating bipartisan input, we can improve this bill for the benefit of Americans across the country.

“I am concerned that bringing the bill to the floor next week is too premature to properly evaluate Members’ concerns and implement needed improvements.”

Apparently, although “too premature to properly evaluate Members’ concerns”, the bill wasn’t too premature to vote on. There is no rationale provided for her vote in favor of the legislation. Ok, she’s Sonny Bono’s widow and she’s from California, so I’m willing to cut her some slack when it comes to my expectations of minimum intellectual firepower; but she’s married to Rep. Connie Mack, a Florida Republican who voted against this bill. Yo, Connie, how about working a little policy discussion into the pillow talk?

Mike Castle (Delaware)
Mike is obviously a guy who is easily bamboozled. Here is a key quote from a press release issued after the vote:
The recent vote in the U.S. House on the American Clean Energy and Security Act was on whether to pursue these new strategies, or hold on to the status quo. I supported the legislation because it is my belief that we cannot turn away from the opportunity to create new jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy. With offshore wind, fuel cells, and solar energy initiatives, Delaware is poised to lead such innovation and create new jobs in these important areas while protecting the tourism industry and our very own coastline.

Translation? I think I can siphon off enough gravy for spending on fruit-loop alternative energy projects to make up for the bill’s initial toxic job shock, so maybe the whole thing will be a wash.

Here’s another comment from this subterranean intellect.
Nations around the world are surging ahead with emission reductions and developing new energy technologies. The United States should be on equal footing, if not leading this effort to remain competitive.

Sure, by all means, the U.S. should strive to be the fastest lemming in that race to the cliff.

David Reichert (Washington)
Energy independence and our national security are critical issues for America. These issues transcend politics. The future of this country is on the line and we can spare no effort when it comes to leading on these issues at a global level.

David Reichert? David Freakin’ Reichert?!? The ex-cop? The guy who spent the better part of his career looking (unsuccessfully) for the Green River Killer? Now the Democrats want to knock off the economy and he’s on their side?

That’s only three, and I’ll be checking out the rest later on, but you see the pattern. These idiots have either fallen for, or are using as a smokescreen, the bogus argument that this bill is about remaining competitive, achieving energy independence (I didn’t see any discussion about expanding drilling for oil, incidentally), and - God help us! – creating new jobs.

Sorry, Republican Party, but if the only difference between the GOP and Democratic Party is the logo, I’ll just hang on to my money and invest it in gold and canned goods.

(Cross-posted at Not One Red Cent)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

God help you, America.
And God help the rest of us if you fall.

Anonymous said...

"Sorry, Republican Party, but if the only difference between the GOP and Democratic Party is the logo, I’ll just hang on to my money and invest it in gold and canned goods."

Exactly right. And I would extend that to other areas as well. The Republican Party used to stand for budgetary and spending discipline. But when George Bush decided to fight the WOT, all that discipline went to the wayside.

He had good reasons of course. He had only so much political capital. But when the Republicans threw out the "find the means to pay for your new program" policy, Obama went many steps beyond that.

It's a mess. An absolute mess. And the Republicans are partly responsible for it.

wronwright

JeffS said...

Don't forget ammunition, Paco.

RebeccaH said...

I read somewhere (I should keep better track, but it's easily googled, I suppose) that these eight Republicans come from blue states with large union majorities. That means a "no" vote could have cost them their elections, which also means that these eight Republicans voted to save their seats against the legitimate interests of the American people.

We need to start small, with local government, and work our way up to sweeping away the dead wood. I, for one, am sick to death of political dynasties.

Isophorone said...

Castle is apparently running for U.S. Senate from Delaware, probably against Joe Biden's son. He is probably trying to garner more leftist votes in a blue state. I'm not defending him, but this may be a logical explanation for what he is doing. Gotta get some corporate welfare in a state in which a lot of corporations are based!

Paco said...

"We need to start small, with local government, and work our way up to sweeping away the dead wood."

I'm with you, Rebecca. Trying to resurrect a Republican majority by focusing exclusively on national-level candidates in blue states - i.e., spreading a little Republican icing on the Democratic cake - will always create a situation in which the Republican office-holders keep getting pulled into the leftist orbit of their dominant constituencies, which strikes me as a losing proposition, long term.

bruce said...

Didn't Roe vs Wade begin the collapse of State diversity, open the gates to the Fed bulldozer?

How to bring back those days when you could just switch US States if you didn't like the local laws?