Statement: Inhofe Exposes Cap and Tax Scheme in Obama Budget

“The Administration’s decision to include cap and trade—and the revenues generated by it—in the budget forces my colleagues here in the Senate to no longer hide the ball… It allows us to have an honest debate about the costs of a program of this magnitude on the American people—not to mention the enormous redistribution of wealth for pet projects and programs under the umbrella of ‘clean energy.’ To put it simply, they are realizing that cap and trade is a regressive energy tax that hits the Midwest and the South harder than the East or West Coasts.

“In this time of recession and economic pain, the Administration and proponents of mandatory global warming controls now need to be honest with the American people. The purpose of these programs is to ration fossil-based energy by making it more expensive, and therefore less appealing for public consumption. It is a regressive tax that imposes a greater burden (relative to resources) on the poor than on the rich. That is because the poor spend a larger percentage of their income on energy costs than the rich..."

Australian Climate Madness: Wong talks but won't negotiate

It must be really tough being Penny at the moment. On the one hand, she has to appear to want the ETS legislation to go through the Senate, while at the same time really wanting it to all fall over so she can stamp her foot, scream and shout and say "the Liberals did it! Deniers! Deniers!" and then quietly dropping it so that the Government can get on with more important things, like screwing up its response to the financial crisis...