Lots Of Hypocrisy, Lots Of Ignorance On Display In The House Today

This afternoon the House passed the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill (H.R. 2454) 219 to 212. Frankly I'm surprised they went after this one before-- not nearly as politically popular as health care reform-- first. Addressing climate change is still kind of abstract for many Americans-- and that includes for many American congressmen. The bill is a first step-- after 8 years of gratuitous anti-science fanatics at the helm-- on the road towards transforming how we produce and use energy.

The vote was the first time either house of Congress had approved a bill meant to curb the heat-trapping gases scientists have linked to climate change. The legislation, which passed despite deep divisions among Democrats, could lead to profound changes in many sectors of the economy, including electric power generation, agriculture, manufacturing and construction...

At the heart of the legislation is a cap-and-trade system that sets a limit on overall emissions of heat-trapping gases while allowing utilities, manufacturers and other emitters to trade pollution permits, or allowances, among themselves. The cap would grow tighter over the years, pushing up the price of emissions and presumably driving industry to find cleaner ways of making energy.

The Senate, far more susceptible-- at least in terms of effect-- to the blandishments of Big Business bribes than the House, is expected to weaken the bill considerably, if not kill it outright. Corrupt tobacco lobbyist John Boehner (R-OH) tried filibustering the bill but House rules only allow that to go on for an hour. In the end 8 Republicans abandoned their reactionary, backward leadership to vote with the Democrats. (All 8 Republicans voting "yes," represent districts that were won by Barack Obama last November.)

But as corrupt as Boehner is, many Republicans opposed the bill because they are flat-out insane, 21st Century versions of the kinds of elites who were ready to burn people at the stake for claiming the world wasn't flat or the center of the Universe. And few fit that description better than Georgia uber-reactionary Paul Broun, a perfect specimen of the entire Georgia Republican congressional delegation. No one expects anything else from Broun but he was heartily applauded from the floor, at least by other GOP reactionaries, "when he claimed that man-made global warming is a 'hoax' with 'no scientific consensus.' Broun, citing misleading statistics, also claimed that the bill would hurt the poor and 'kill jobs'.”

The DCCC was very quick to go on the attack against Republicans who voted "no." Here's a press release, emphasizing the chance to create 2.5 million clean energy jobs, they sent out to Alaska media regarding Don Young.

Today, Representative Don Young was given an opportunity to create millions of clean energy jobs, reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, and ensure that the United States leads the world in the global economy but Young decided to just say no. By voting no on the bipartisan American Clean Energy and Security Act, Representative Young chose to “just say no” to creating 2.5 million clean energy jobs that can’t be exported anywhere.
 
“Today, Representative Don Young chose to do nothing instead of taking action to create 2.5 million clean energy jobs and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil,” said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Times are tough, people need jobs here at home and a plan to get America running on clean energy but instead of offering solutions, Representative Young continued saying nothing but no.”

So what about the 44 Democrats who voted "no?" Don't you just hate it when the DCCC looks that hypocritical? The Blue Dogs and other right-wing Democrats were out in force. Rudominer could as easily have said “Today, Representative John Barrow chose to do nothing instead of taking action to create 2.5 million clean energy jobs and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil." In light of the DCCC press release it looks especially hypocritical that Democratic leaders gave red state Democrats a pass to vote no, though many of them-- your Walt Minnicks (Blue Dog-ID), Chris Carneys (Blue Dog-PA), Ann Kirkpatricks (Blue Dog-AZ), Bobby Brights (Blue Dog-AL), Jim Marshalls (Blue Dog-GA), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), and Parker Griffiths (Blue Dog-AL), for example-- certainly don't wait for passes to cross the aisle, many of them voting with the GOP on crucial issues even more frequently than with the Democrats. A couple of progressives voted against the bill because they felt it was too weak and compromised, Dennis Kucinich being the most outspoken of them.