So, the delightfully anti-business, anti-capitalism and anti-common sense cap-and-trade bill passed the House of Representatives by the thinnest of margins - 219-212 - despite John Boehner’s noble pseudo-filibuster, in which he read the 300-page bill for an hour. The bill, like the stimulus (which is helping our economy SO much), wasn’t actually read by anyone in Congress before the vote, and Boehner (who I am calling Killa B from this point on since I am struggling to spell his name correctly) decided to rectify the situation.
Regardless, eight Republicans voted for the bill. Had they voted against it, it would not have passed.
They are:
Mary Bono Mack (CA)
Mike Castle (DE - May run for Senate in 2010)
Mark Kirk (IL - Also may run for Senate in 2010)
Leonard Lance (NJ)
Frank LoBiondo (NJ)
John McHugh (NY)
Dave Reichert (WA)
Chris Smith (NJ)
Now, before you all get excited about the 44 Democrats who voted against the bill, keep in mind that Dennis Kucinich and several others took a cue from far-Left groups, such as Greenpeace, and voted the way they did because they felt that the bill didn’t go far enough, not because they were Blue Dog Democrats who oppose spending slightly less than their ultra-liberal brethren.
There was really no reason to vote for this bill, if you were a Republican. The GOP should be rallying round condemnation of President Obama’s drastic expansion of Government, not aiding and abetting it by voting for massive tax increases, such as this. It would be one thing if voting against the conservative position was politically expedient, in order to keep a moderate district, such as voting for Federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, but the fact is, opposition to big Government is a mainstream position. If anything, voting for cap-and-trade could very well hurt the eight defectors, especially in their primaries come next year.
In the meantime, give credit to Killa B and all of those who voted against cap-and-trade. Hopefully, predictions will hold true, and cap-and-trade will die in the Senate. Also, since I am a simple man who needs to have things explained with pretty pictures, here is an interesting map of how cap-and-trade affects the country, State-by-State.
