Lieberman-Warner: The Carbon Emissions Police Are Coming

Statement

By Herman Cain

In my column last week, I informed those who were not aware of how the Democratic leaders in the United States Senate had systematically and consistently blocked legislation (S.2958) that would have allowed oil exploration and drilling right here at the home of the brave.

Specifically, there are at least 24 billion barrels of untapped crude oil on government controlled land, and another estimated 2 trillion barrels of oil from a mineral called oil shale stuck in the ground in the western part of our country. But the Democrats say "don't touch that".

While most of us were observing our favorite Memorial Day activities last week, the Senate had already scheduled a debate of America's Climate Security Act of 2007 for the week following Memorial Day, which is this week.

Maybe the mainstream media missed telling us about this, because the bill has several aliases to keep us unaware. It is called the Lieberman-Warner bill, named after its original sponsors, and designated S.2191, as well as S.3036, which became the designation after it was reintroduced in 2008 by Senator Barbara Boxer of California. That should be a clue right there about what kind of climate security they are proposing.

I will spare you the suspense. Here's the layman's description of the bill.

The Lieberman-Warner bill is a cap-and-tax energy scheme, a carbon-emissions rationing program, a new tax on businesses and consumers, a new big government central agency and new career opportunities for thousands of new lobbyists specializing in greenhouse gas regulations.

A more technical description is available from the Congressional Research Service at www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-2191&tab=summary.

The bill also establishes the Carbon Market Efficiency Board, which shall report on the national greenhouse gas emission market and provide cost relief measures if it determines significant harm to the U.S. economy.

Give me a break!

The people who conceived and wrote this crap are obviously descendants of the same people who wrote the original tax code in 1913, the Social Security legislation in 1935, the Medicare bill of 1965 and the out-of-control prescription drug legislation of 2004.

Just look at how well all of these "the government knows best" programs are working today, and we have a good idea of where this latest giant leap for mankind will work for our grandchildren.

Carbon emissions are an issue, but it has not been established that it is a crisis. Likewise, it has not been firmly established that global warming is a crisis. Additionally, there is a plethora of proactive ways to address these issues that are not even on the table, before we pass broad sweeping legislation filled with an abundance of unintended consequences.

But once again, the Democratic answer to every issue is more big government, more bureaucracy, more taxes and more restrictions on businesses and the people.

The response to my appeal to "Do Something Now" to get Senate Bill 2958 out of committee at www.hermancain.com has been spectacular. Thank you! Sen. Jay Bingaman of the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee will have a few thousand voices waiting for him when his staff checks his e-mails this week.

My web site also now has "Do Something Now #2", which is a link to the online petition initiated by former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, demanding that Congress "Drill now. Drill here. Pay less."

And stop the Lieberman-Warner bill!

Unless you would like to meet the Carbon Emissions Police, what are you waiting for? Go to "Do Something Now" and do it now.

Our grandchildren will thank you.

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