Competitive Enterprise Institute On Cap-And-Trade

Vote first, find out what's in the bill later.

 

House Democratic leaders have managed to squeeze a 1510-page energy-rationing bill through the House on a 219 to 212 vote by filling it full of payoffs to special interests, not releasing the full text until 3 AM the night before the vote, and restricting debate to three hours. The process should be an embarrassment to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), but once people find out what's in it, the bill will become an embarrassment to everyone who voted for it.  Waxman-Markey has no future in the Senate, and with any luck this first victory for energy-rationing legislation will be the last. I congratulate Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) for their magnificent leadership against the bill. On the other hand, the eight Republicans who voted for this monstrosity provided the margin of victory, which suggests that the Republicans in Congress are still in disarray.