The Home Energy Retrofit: It's Worse Than We Thought

Last week we discussed how one section of the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade legislation would require you to retrofit your home if you intend to sell it.

Well, it gets worse than that. You would be subject to official "inspections" if you planned any renovations that require building permits, or if you simply wished to put the utility bills in someone's name other than your own.

At the American Issues Project, they've done a more extensive analysis and come up with a post entitled, "If you don't hate the Cap and Trade Bill, let me show you Section 304." A snippet or two:

I bet you thought that if you bought a house, you actually own it and can, with reasonable exceptions, do with it what you want. You probably think that if you want to live in a log cabin, with wood stoves that belch smoke into the air for heat, and an old washer and dryer that don't have those little EnergyStar stickers on them you can because it's your life and your property. You paid for it with money you earned with the sweat of your brow and what the heck is America anyhow if a body can't live in the home they want furnished with the appliances they want?

Ah, silly you. You didn't reckon on the Democratic Party's desire to control every miniscule aspect of your life.

Let me introduce you to a little section of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill called the "Building Energy Performance Labeling Program". It's section 304 of the bill and it says, basically, that your house belongs to the state. See, the Federal Government really wants a country full of energy-efficient homes, so much so that the bill mandates that new homes be 30 percent more energy efficient than the current building code on the very day the law is signed. That efficiency goes up to 50 percent by 2014 and only goes higher from there, all the way to 2030. That, by the way, is not merely a target but a requirement of the law. New homes must reach those efficiency targets no matter what.

But what does that have to do with current homeowners like you? Well, I'm glad you asked. You're certainly not off the hook, no way, no how. Here's what the Democrats have planned for you. The program requires that states label their buildings so that we can all know how efficient every building (that includes residential and non-residential buildings) is and it requires that the information be made public.

While there is no penalty on not meeting these standards -- yet -- the legislation threatens states with losing a portion of their federal revenues if a certain percentage of homes and businesses do not meet the tougher standards.

The bill strong-arms the states like a couple mob heavies leaning on a witness in a Rico trial. In turn, the states are going to put the screws to you, so it gets the billions of dollars Washington is dangling in front of them. So while the Federal government won't directly punish you, it will provide the states with lots and lots of rectangular, green reasons to do so.

Also, the folks at AIP have looked at the "reimbursement" the feds are going to help you with. It will be capped at half of your upgrade costs. If you are very persistent and are a registered Democrat. (Just kidding about the registered Democrat thingee, I think.)

The worst part, as they note, is that this is only a tiny portion of what our Progressive government in Washington has in store for you.

Only a tiny portion.

No Filibuster Proof Senate on Cap'n Tax

Forget that Al Franken 60th vote, at least on Cap and Trade legislation.

WHEELING - He is not yet back to work in the Senate chamber, but U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd is opposing "cap and trade" legislation pushed by the Obama administration.

The 91-year-old Byrd, D-W.Va., was released from an unidentified Washington, D.C. hospital last week after a month-long stay for a staph infection. He expects to return to the chamber before the Senate begins debate on "cap and trade" - which is tentatively set for this fall, according to Byrd's office.

"I cannot support the House bill in its present form," Byrd said in a statement. "I continue to believe that clean coal can be a 'green' energy. Those of us who understand coal's great potential in our quest for energy independence must continue to work diligently in shaping a climate bill that will ensure access to affordable energy for West Virginians. I remain bullish about the future of coal, and am so very proud of the miners who labor and toil in the coalfields of West Virginia."

There are several other Democrats who have yet to be "bought off" by the Progressives, although we also have to worry about the progressive GOP senators like Snowe and Collins. Byrd, however, won't sell out. He's an older breed of lawmaker, from a different time. He can't be bullied by piss-ants like Harry Reid, or those weasels in the White House.

I don't often agree with him, but I can trust him to keep to his course.

The Sale of Cap'n Tax Indulgences for Climate Sins

The Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade legislation revives the concept of "indulgences" -- little permissions to engage in environmental CO2 sin -- only they are called offsets.

The government becomes the environmental priesthood, granting these CO2 indulgences so that you can "offset" your carbon footprint.

Big business has already lobbied Congress for a good portion of these, and the farm lobby got in there too and made sure that big outfits like Cargill and Monsanto would be protected with indulgences, er, offsets.

Sprueill and Williamson explain

No.5 -- The Selling of CO2 Indulgences

In fact, nearly all of Waxman-Markey’s carbon-reduction targets can be met with offsets alone through 2050, meaning decades before any actual reduction of greenhouse gases is required. That means huge new expenses for small businesses and consumers in return for basically zero environmental improvement.

And how does one earn an offset to sell? Get a farm and cash in through such methods as, and we quote, “improved manure management,” “reduced tillage/no-tillage,” or “afforestation of marginal farmlands.” Translation: Plant some trees around the house and claim some extra credits on the land the government may already be paying you not to farm.

And do a better job of handling your B.S. — but you’ll never do as good a job on that one as the authors of Waxman-Markey.

Zero environmental improvement through the year 2050 A.D.

But this is a crisis, right? Such an impending disaster that Nancy Pelosi had to force a vote without a reading of the vile details of the bill.

B---S--- is absolutely how this smells.

Cap'n Tax -- You Pay for Saving Rain Forests

We continue to look at Sprueill and Williamson's 50 most egregious components of the Waxman-Markey "Cap & Tax" climate change bill passed by the House (and soon to be considered by the U.S. Senate).

At its heart this is "wealth transfer" legislation. It will take money from the middle class and give it to big corporations (through government-issued carbon credits and subsidies) and the very poor (through government subsidies).

It will also transfer wealth from the United States to well-connected individuals, businesses and officials in foreign lands, as witnessed by what happens to some of the actual revenue generated by Waxman-Markey.

No.4 -- Money to Save or Plant Trees in Foreign Lands

To the extent that the allowances actually generate government revenue, that money is going to be used for fraud-inviting projects of dubious environmental or economic value. Example: Some allowance money will be used to “build capacity to reduce deforestation in developing countries experiencing deforestation, including preparing developing countries to participate in international markets for international offset credits for reduced emissions from deforestation.” What are the chances of that being abused?

This violates just about every principle of subsidiarity one could imagine. Why should Americans be taxed to pay people in foreign countries to stop cutting down their trees, or for planting new ones? They should do this on their own initiative, not because rich outsiders (and we are rich by comparison) are willing to pay them.

The potential for fraud and abuse is sky high. Who's going to be the watchmen for these projects, and who's going to watch the watchmen? It ain't you or me, babe.

This is one of those think locally, act globally inversions of logic that the Enviro-Left loves.

You get to pay for it.

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Waxman-Markey

How bad is Waxman-Markey, the carbon cap and trade legislation passed by the House?

Stephen Spruiell & Kevin Williamson of National Review put it this way. The bill

represents a worse abuse of the public trust and purse than the stimulus and the bailouts put together. Waxman-Markey creates a permanent new regime in which environmental romanticism and corporate welfare are mixed together to form political poison. From comic bureaucratic power grabs (check out the section of the bill on candelabras) to the creation of new welfare programs for Democratic constituencies to, above all, massive giveaways for every financial, industrial, and political lobby imaginable, this bill would permanently deform American politics and economic life.

The House of Representatives, famously, did not read this bill before passing it, which is testament to either Nancy Pelosi’s managerial incompetency or her political wile, or possibly both. If you take the time to read the legislation, you’ll discover four major themes: special-interest giveaways, regulatory mandates unrelated to climate change, fanciful technological programs worthy of The Jetsons, and assorted left-wing wish fulfillment.

While admitting that they cannot devote the time to document every one of its potential abuses, they have put together a list of its 50 most outrageous features. I'd like to think it's a "must read" but since I doubt if very many will, I'm going to dwell on a few items on their list over the next couple of days.

No. 1 -- Free Money for Business; Higher Prices for You

The big doozy: Eighty-five percent of the carbon permits will not be sold at auction — they will be given away to utility companies, petroleum interests, refineries, and a coterie of politically connected businesses. If you’re wondering why Big Business supports cap-and-trade, that’s why. Free money for business, but higher energy prices for you.

No. 2 -- A Windfall for Goldman Sachs

The sale of carbon permits will enrich the Wall Street investment bankers whose money put Obama in the White House. Top of the list: Goldman Sachs, which is invested in carbon-offset development and carbon permissions. CNN reports:

Less than two weeks after the investment bank announced it would be laying off 10 percent of its staff, ***Goldman Sachs confirmed that it has taken a minority stake in Utah-based carbon offset project developer Blue Source LLC. . . . “Interest in the pre-compliance carbon market in the U.S. is growing rapidly,” said Leslie Biddle, Head of Commodity Sales at Goldman, “and we are excited to be able to offer our clients immediate access to a diverse selection of emission reductions to manage their carbon risk.”

No. 3 -- Creation of a New Corporate Interest Group, USCAP

With its rich menu of corporate subsidies and special set-asides for politically connected industries, Waxman-Markey has inspired a new corporate interest group, USCAP, the United States Climate Action Partnership — the group largely responsible for the fact that carbon permits are being given away like candy at Christmas rather than auctioned. And who is lined up to receive a piece of the massive wealth transfer that Waxman-Markey will mandate? Canada Free Press lists:

Alcoa, American International Group (AIG) which withdrew after accepting government bailout money, Boston Scientific Corporation, BP America Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Chrysler LLC (which continues to lobby with taxpayer dollars), ConocoPhillips, Deere & Company, The Dow Chemical Company, Duke Energy, DuPont, Environmental Defense, Exelon Corporation, Ford Motor Company, FPL Group, Inc., General Electric, General Motors Corp. (now owned by the Obama administration), Johnson & Johnson, Marsh, Inc., National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, NRG Energy, Inc., Pepsico, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, PG&E Corporation, PNM Resources, Rio Tinto, Shell, Siemens Corporation, World Resources Institute, Xerox Corporation.

One major group of recipients of the free money being given to industry in the form of carbon permits are the electric utilities, represented in Washington by the Edison Electric Institute. Along with the coal and steel businesses, the utilities are positioned to receive a huge portion of the carbon permits — some of which will be disguised as measures for consumers — and have become one of the nation’s highest-spending lobbies, working to ensure that their interests are served by cap-and-trade.

If you read the list carefully, you will realize that you have lefty groups side-by-side with big corporate fat cats, all licking their chops at the prospect of sharing your tax dollars from the federal trough. This is called socialism, in case you were wondering.

Piggishness, indeed!

Tomorrow: Nos. 4 through 6.

Forcing Your Home Into Energy Efficiency

An interesting provision in the Waxman-Markey bill -- otherwise known as Cap'n Tax -- is that the EPA will write environmental standards for residences. You know, the place where you live.

At least at first it won't affect you. Not until you decided you want to sell your home. Then you will be required (forced) to retrofit your home to meet the EPA standards, or you will not be able to sell.

Seriously.

This is just one of those petty little details that our congressmen didn't have time to read because Nancy Pelosi wanted to deliver a 4th of July legislative gift to The Messiah.

How many other little tidbits of command-and-control affecting your very life are included in this abomination of a bill?

My understanding is that the feds are promising to reimburse you for your trouble. We'll see. Where the money is coming from to handle that is another sticky issue. It seems the government is going to sell a new kind of bond to raise money for a revolving fund. It has the rather ominous name of PACE -- Property Assessment Clean Energy.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all in favor of people making their homes energy efficient, but not because the federal government forces you to. People should have the right to indulge in energy conservation because it saves them money on their utility bills. They should also have the right not to. The free market system would easily handle the problem because one person's energy efficient 3 bedroom, 2 bath home would be worth more than another's energy-wasting 3 bedroom, 2 bath lemon.

People are smart enough to figure these things out without coercion.

You can read more about some of the provisions of the energy efficiency retrofits HERE in this Reuters story.

Cap & Trade Video Should Make You Smile, A Little

Want a little entertainment with your Cap and Trade funk?

GoRemy has a video on YouTube that should fill the bill.

Cap & Trade -- The Bill That Didn't Actually Exist

There were two almost equal sized camps inside the well of the House of Representatives Friday night following the vote on the Cap & Trade bill.

The winners slapped one another on the back and made wonderful pronouncements on what a marvelous piece of legislation it is, and how it will save humanity. The authors, Henry Waxman and Ed Markey, were given considerable credit for the bill-writing expertise.

The losers were much quieter, although there were those who pointed out that no one had had time to actually read the bill, which was reputed to be over 1,300 pages.

This morning, it was learned that not only was there no time to read the bill, there was no actual bill to read. The 310 pages of amendments that floated in at 4 a.m. Friday were never integrated into the original bill. As one critic suggested, "They didn't pass a bill, they passed a concept." Legally speaking, the "bill" doesn't exist.

John Hindraker at Powerline says this isn't the first time this has happened since Nancy Pelosi's team took over in 2007. "Disgraceful," he says.

David Freddoso at The Washington Examiner wonders who will be watching while the "amendments" are integrated into the original bill.

... they cannot be simply combined, because the amendment contains 300 pages of items like this: "Page 15, beginning line 8, strike paragraph (11)..." How many members of Congress do you suppose have gone through it all to see how it changes the bill?

Global Warming is apparently so urgent that we can't even wait until members of Congress know what they're voting on.

He quoted Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, who tried to get the chair to acknowledge there was no actual bill before the voting took place:

"If a bill for which there is no copy were to actually pass this body," Barton asked, "could the bill without a copy be sent to the Senate for its consideration?"

And could a bill without a copy be signed by the president?

Life in the New Progressive era of America is getting stranger and stranger.

This Guy is a Real Weiner

Earlier this week we noticed this congressman buddying up to Barney Frank.

Now he's claiming that the Iranians and Saudis don't want us to have Cap'n Tax. And that the Republicans are somehow in collusion with them.

Republicans are playing into the hands of the Iranian regime and the Saudi Arabian kingdom, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) argued Friday.

Weiner said that Republicans' opposition to the climate change bill scheduled for a vote this afternoon benefits the oil-rich companies, which have been accused of funneling some of that money to terrorist groups.

"Ahmadinejad, the Saudi Kingdom — they want exactly what my Republican friends are advocating," Weiner said on the floor during the debate ahead of this afternoon's vote.

This is the kind of stuff for which Congress is famous: people making extremely asinine statements and making real "weiners" of themselves.

I wouldn't waste my time phoning him, but there are 435 other clowns to pick from.

And there's still time. Barely.

Another Threat from the Piss-ant Norks

Another day, another threat of nuclear annihilation from North Korea.

Yawn.

SEOUL, South Korea—Punching their fists into the air and shouting "Let's crush them!" some 100,000 North Koreans packed Pyongyang's main square Thursday for an anti-U.S. rally as the communist regime promised a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation" for any American-led attack.

Several demonstrators held up a placard depicting a pair of hands smashing a missile with "U.S." written on it, according to footage taken by APTN in Pyongyang on the anniversary of the day North Korean troops charged southward, sparking the three-year Korean War in 1950.

North Korean troops will respond to any sanctions or U.S. provocations with "an annihilating blow," one senior official vowed—a pointed threat as an American destroyer shadowed a North Korean freighter sailing off China's coast, possibly with banned goods on board.

Apparently these yahoos have no clue as to how many nuclear devices we could drop on their little piss-ant country if we took a notion to do so. Sure, it wouldn't make the South Koreans very happy, would serious torque the Chinese, and the Japanese are still awfully jittery about those two little bombs we dropped nearly 64 years ago.

But if the Norks do something foolish too quickly, they better have dug some themselves some serious bomb shelters.

Of course, if Waxman-Markey passes Congress, we probably can't afford the carbon offsets on even a tiny nuclear exchange with pissant North Korea. Have you made that call to your congressperson yet?

Monica Conyers Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy

The wife of powerful Congressman John Conyers has pled guilty to conspiracy charges in federal court in Detroit.

Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers pleaded guilty this morning to conspiring to commit bribery and is free on personal bond.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn said, "The defendant now stands convicted."

The one count of conspiring to commit bribery is punishable by up to five years in prison.

No sentencing date has been set.

Conyers, the wife of powerful Democratic congressman U.S. Rep. John Conyers, appeared before Cohn to answer charges in connection with the wide-ranging probe of wrongdoing at Detroit city hall.

She has long been under suspicion in the Synagro Technologies bribery probe, not least because she had been a vocal opponent of the contract before suddenly switching her sentiments. She became the deciding voice in the city council’s 5-4 vote to approve the sludge-hauling deal in November 2007.

Now just because his wife now stands convicted of high crimes doesn't necessarily reflect on Cong. Conyers.

However, if he votes yes on Waxman-Markey (Cap'n Tax) today, then he will have participated in the legalized theft of trillions from the American people.

Maybe you should give him a call.

He might appreciate the distraction.

A Chips Economy -- Oh, the Humanity!

Could it be a sign of economic meltdown?

First there was that strange story earlier this week of a woman in Oklahoma City accepting a case of Doritos as payment for sexual favors. (The "john" was not charged; perhaps he was given credit for original thinking.)

Now there's this: a domestic dispute in Tennessee in which the couple assaulted one another with Cheetos.

A local couple arrested on domestic assault charges Sunday had an unusual choice of alleged weaponry -- Cheetos.

Warrents filed by Cpl. Kevin Roddy, of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department, stated he responded to a call at a home on Pass Road, where 40-year-old James Earl Taylor and Mary S. Childers, 44, were allegedly involved in an argument.

According to Roddy's report, the pair became "involved in a verbal altercation" with each other "at which time Cheetos potato chips were used in the assault."

"There was evidence of the assault," the report read, "however no physical marks on either party and the primary aggressor was unable to be determined."

Both Taylor and Childers were charged by Roddy with domestic assault. Both posted a bond of $2,500 and will appear in Bedford County General Sessions Court on July 15.

I'm just looking for a little Pretzel Logic here.

Is this the kind of nation we wish to become, where we are reduced to using potato chips for money and ammo?

This is the kind of nightmare that will only get worse under Waxman-Markey (Cap'n Tax).

Michael Jackson's Doctor is Missing

Sadly, members of the Los Angeles Police department will not have time to call their congresspersons on Cap'n Tax today, because they are looking for Michael Jackson's personal, live-in, physician.

Los Angeles police were reportedly searching for Michael Jackson's personal physician today to question him over allegations that the star received a potentially fatal dose of the painkiller Demerol before his death.

News of the manhunt broke on the well-connected celebrity gossip website TMZ.com, which was the first to report the star's death, and came as an LA County coroner began an autopsy. Earlier reports suggested that Jackson might have been given a large dose of the drug to help deal with pain after rehearsals for a series of 50 comeback concerts in London.

TMZ reported: "We've learned law enforcement is looking for a doctor who lived at Michael Jackson's home - and the doctor is nowhere to be found... The cops want to interview the doc."

You'd think the good doctor would be the first person questioned yesterday after the Demerol rumors surfaced. Plenty of time for a good head start.

Then again, maybe the doctor is merely distraught and in seclusion somewhere. It could be that he meant to call in, but he's on hold with his congressman, waiting to weigh in on the disastrous Waxman-Markey bill.

UPDATE AT 4:30 -- Good news! The doctor reportedly has resurfaced and is willing to talk to the cops.

Cap'n Tax Survives First Key Vote in House

Cap'n Tax, the swashbuckling legislation designed to put Uncle Sam's hand on your tiller, survived a key test vote this morning in the House, 217 to 205, which means that it will come to a vote later today.

Have you called your congresspersons yet?

Thirty Democrats defected on this largely party line bill.

But not enough.

As usual, the White House is spouting lies.

"The bill contains provisions to protect consumers, keep costs low, help sensitive industries transition to a clean energy economy and promote domestic emission reduction efforts," the White House in a statement of support for the legislation.

Do they take us all for fools?

Not mentioned in the Associated Press report (surprise, surprise) is a 300-page "amendment" inserted into the bill in the wee hours of the night by Congressman Henry Waxman, co-author of the bill, which apparently no one has read.

The rule of law has been abandoned.

According to an outfit called SolveClimate.com, there are two amendments that will be considered today. One is Waxman's, which incorporates a compromise with farm state representatives that will give oversight of the carbon offsets to the Secretary of Agriculture instead of the Environmental Protection Agency.

This is supposed to guarantee that people like Congressman Dan Boren will support the bill.

People, bad is bad. The agriculture department is already talking plans to regulate everything that farmers do. The Secretary of Ag is appointed by the president and serves at his pleasure. Does anyone seriously think this is going to be enough protection for farmers? Wake up!

Big government is bad, pure and simple. Moving in that direction, under any plan, is a defeat for individual liberty and personal choice!

The second amendment, which doesn't have a chance of a snowball in hell, is from the Republicans, calling for scrapping Cap and Trade and replacing it with a "Manhattan Project" for Energy Independence. Sounds good, but the devil is in the details.

Maybe Satan can examine that snowball while it melts.

Even in Hyperinflation, There's Always Golf

The Mogambo Guru offers sage wisdom and advice for those who seek to understand what the freaking hell our government is doing to our economy, though I must warn that reading his posts is not for the faint of heart.

His latest observations on the expansion of federal "credit" -- this is a crazy term that doesn't actually mean what you think it means; it's somewhere between "debt" and "newly printed money" -- offer a comparison to the strategy being used by the Federal Reserve and that employed by the African nation of Zimbabwe, where the currency is now considered "worthless."

So how does an economy keep on operating with no money? Well, the local poor-folks have been begging from foreign sources and furiously digging flakes of gold from the rivers, but the more well-heeled have adapted, and as Golf Digest reports, “Despite hyperinflation, cholera and hugely unpopular President Robert Mugabe, golf survives in Zimbabwe. At Bulawayo Golf Club (founded in 1895), members have been paying with gasoline because local banknotes are worthless.”

So that should cheer you up if you like to play golf and remember how to siphon gasoline from your neighbor's pickup truck. The future's not so dismal after all!

NOTE -- If Waxman-Markey (Cap'n Tax) passes Congress, there may be no gasoline to siphon so that you can play golf. The clock is ticking: call your congressperson now!

Was the Ark of the Covenant Unveiled Today?

At the risk of diverting your attention from that important phone call to your congressman to inform him that he should vote no on Waxman-Markey (Cap'n Tax) later today, there is this story out of Ethiopia:

Holy Ark Announcement Due on Friday (today)

(IsraelNN.com) An Ethiopian church leader says Friday, June 26, marks the right time to unveil the Biblical Ark of the Covenant, which he says has been hidden in his church for centuries.

Abuna Pauolos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, was in Rome this week to meet with Pope Benedict XVI. While there, he told reporters that the time had come to reveal before the world the Holy Ark. He said that the holy container has been in the custody of his church for hundreds of years.

Paulous said he would make the full announcement this Friday, June 26, 2 PM local time (3 PM Israel time, 8 AM New York time) at a press conference in Rome.

That means that about 7 a.m. our time "something" was unveiled. But let's hope it wasn't the real McCoy.

Why?

Because the return of the real Ark of the Covenant appears in various prophecies of the time of the Antichrist, where it will be revealed by Enoch and Elijah, the two "witness" patriarchs. (Neither Enoch nor Elijah died, as they were taken away to a special place on God's command.) This pair will enrage Antichrist, who will kill them. They will rise again with the whole world watching which will trigger Antichrist's attempt to duplicate Jesus' Ascension. This will end badly for Antichrist.

Since Antichrist isn't here yet -- with apologies to all those who think Obama qualifies -- this can't be the real thing.

Unless the prophecies are wrong.

I would spend more time worrying about Waxman-Markey ("Cap'n Tax").