Breaking: Senate postpones cap-and-trade
posted at 1:33 pm on July 9, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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The Washington Post reports that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold off on consideration of the House cap-and-trade bill until September at the earliest:
President Barack Obama’s push for quick action by Congress on climate change legislation suffered a setback on Thursday when the U.S. Senate committee leading the drive delayed work on the bill until September.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer said her self-imposed deadline of early August for finishing writing a bill to combat global warming has been put off until after Congress returns from a recess that ends in early September.
“We’ll do it as soon as we get back” from that break, Boxer told reporters. Asked if this delay jeopardizes chances the Senate will pass a bill this year, Boxer said, “Not a bit … we’ll be in (session) until Christmas, so I’m not worried about it.”
But Boxer did not guarantee Congress will be able to finish a bill and deliver it to Obama by December, when he plans to attend an international summit on climate change in Copenhagen.
Two weeks ago, when the House barely pushed this through a vote, Barack Obama’s poll numbers still looked good enough to imply that there may not be consequences for hobbling the economy with ludicrous taxes, fees, and penalties for energy production. With his poll numbers eroding quickly and the electorate losing patience with high unemployment and Porkulus’ failure, that doesn’t seem like a safe bet any more. As the economy continues to drag, cap-and-trade will look more like a disaster than the mythical one it purports to avoid.
The Democrats simply don’t have the votes now on cap-and-trade, and unless the economy suddenly lurches back to life, the political situation will be worse in September. That doesn’t mean we can let up on the pressure, as Michelle says. Keep calling your Senators to tell them that a vote for cap-and-trade means adding to the unemployment lines — starting with themselves.
Update: This might have had something to do with it, too:
“I cannot support the House bill in its present form,” Byrd said in a statement. “I continue to believe that clean coal can be a ‘green’ energy. Those of us who understand coal’s great potential in our quest for energy independence must continue to work diligently in shaping a climate bill that will ensure access to affordable energy for West Virginians.” …
Senator Byrd’s was one of the two sponsors of the Byrd-Hagel Resolution, which the senate unanimously passed, 95–0, in 1997. Byrd-Hagel stated the sense of the Senate that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol that did not include binding targets and timetables for developing nations as well as industrialized nations or “would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States.” Byrd-Hagel prevented Clinton from even trying to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which like the Waxman-Markey “cap and trade” climate change legislation, would have put the U.S. economy at an economic disadvantage to China and India.
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Wow. Gives us some time to build up an opposition until that point. It shows that Dems don’t have the votes, even with total control, to pass it.
amerpundit on July 9, 2009 at 1:35 PM
So the argument that Cap and Trade is a jobs killer is ignored UNTIL the politicians discover that the jobs that might be killed include their own.
PackerBronco on July 9, 2009 at 1:35 PM
The senate doesn’t care about jobs. – Pelosi.
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Fabulous news!!!
But we can’t turn our backs on them!
Oink on July 9, 2009 at 1:36 PM
It means Harry Reid doesn’t have 60 votes. Hell, he probably doesn’t even have 50 right now.
Doughboy on July 9, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Yeah,, they missed their opportunity to vote during the Michael Jackson memorial.
JellyToast on July 9, 2009 at 1:36 PM
It doesn’t matter whether it passes the Senate or not.
The EPA can go ahead and implement it without congressional approval.
-Dave
Dave R. on July 9, 2009 at 1:37 PM
The spin will be that the republicans stopped it. At which point, they should say “yes we stopped it. why would we support a bill that kills jobs. that’s what democrats do”
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Friday at midnight.
christene on July 9, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Good start. Maybe the Obama agenda will start getting slowed down now.
Of course, if the economy is resilient enough to bounce back some over the summer, all bets are off.
cs89 on July 9, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Not the “Oh” face!!!
my eyes…
Abby Adams on July 9, 2009 at 1:38 PM
Let’s hope for a very, very hot summer.
Maybe people will get very nervous about the idea of being unable to run their air conditioners.
MadisonConservative on July 9, 2009 at 1:38 PM
The only reason it was delayed, is because they don’t have the votes. As Obama’s poll numbers keep falling, they’ll keep pushing it back. Eventually, Obama will try to backdoor it through executive orders.
Rebar on July 9, 2009 at 1:38 PM
But…but…I won
cmsinaz on July 9, 2009 at 1:38 PM
True, but then the blame for the negative economic impact it has will fall entirely on Obama’s shoulders. At least with crap-and-betrayed, he could throw Congress under the bus.
Doughboy on July 9, 2009 at 1:38 PM
O-bama
O-verreaching
O-ver
portlandon on July 9, 2009 at 1:40 PM
Kay Hagan is too busy licking her wounds from the beating she took from Senator Jim DeMint to worry about voting on anything!
SouthernGent on July 9, 2009 at 1:40 PM
More time to get the bribes in place.
BigWyo on July 9, 2009 at 1:40 PM
OMG – is this for real?
Brace for the full-court press on ObamaCare, and then the stories to emerge about the select few brave, patriotic Republican Senators who brokered a deal which took Cap/Trade off the table in exchange for full bi-partisan support of ObamaCare.
Mark my words and have a barf bag ready
gatorboy on July 9, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Exactly. Then they will hide climate change amendments into whatever bill they can and build it piece by piece on the sly.
genso on July 9, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Here’s my favorite stupid story of the day.
$540 shoes and $875 purse is affordable?
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Too many people found out what it was all about TAXES.
tarpon on July 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
The Precedent doesn’t really care about the blame. All he wants is to destroy the US. What you call “blame for the negative economic impact” he looks at as “credit for dealing a fatal blow to the US economy”. Just look at his argument to raise capital gains taxes, even if it meant reduced receipts to the government.
The Precedent doesn’t really care about another term. He just wants the US dead.
progressoverpeace on July 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Well. That gives them plenty of time to read the bill, doesn’t it. Not that they will. They’re too busy beginning to worry about their collective backsides and the
sliding poll numbers.
kingsjester on July 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Obama meet quagmire , quagmire Obama.
the_nile on July 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Obama’s -8 on Rasmussen today.
-19 among men.
Chuck Schick on July 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Yep, the bursting of the “Obama Bubble” is in full force now. Humpty Dumpty is in free fall now and when he splatters to the ground all of Dear Leader’s media and all his spin masters won’t be able to put The One together again.
Oh, he’ll continue to have his cultists but he’s never going to see 50% approval again once he falls below it, barring a hugely unexpected and rapid economic recovery. Which isn’t going to happen because everything he and his democrat cohorts have done more or less makes ANY economic recovery, IF it happens AT ALL be painfully slow and weak.
I’m not surprised to see a little “self preservation” kick in with respect to the democrat congress. Like it or not, they OWN this turd now, and most of them are going to face the music in 2010, not 2012.
Obama’s status as a lame duck starts very soon, barring massive voter fraud on an Iranian scale I don’t see him getting re-elected, and he may even get a strong primary challenge (I can see Hillary resigning soon and starting a challenge for 2012).
It’s time to go on the offensive, Republicans. Hoist him on his own petard.
wildcat84 on July 9, 2009 at 1:43 PM
FLUSH THE 219 in 2010.
The fact that no one even read the bill or its 300 page amendment added at 3:00 AM the morning before passage in the House reinforces the fact these representatives are UNFIT to serve.
volsense on July 9, 2009 at 1:43 PM
That’s not gonna help Obama’s children. Wait, yeah it does.
LastRick on July 9, 2009 at 1:43 PM
It appears as though you don’t have the votes, MAM!
d1carter on July 9, 2009 at 1:43 PM
Heh. I was thinking the exact opposite. Let’s hope for a cool summer so they can not scream “BUT GLOBAL WARMING!!!” in order to get it passed.
spaninq on July 9, 2009 at 1:43 PM
This is proof positive that global warming is NOT man-made and/or NOT happening.
If it was some catastrophe, they’d be voting on it today, a la the Patriot Act, written 4 weeks after 9/11 (in the midst of an anthrax scare), and signed into law after both houses passed it THREE DAYS LATER
It’s like Gore. I MIGHT believe his hype if he’d start living his own life like CO2=devil.
Thank you barbara boxer for showing me GW isn’t that bad!
Thank you MA’AM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
battleoflepanto1571 on July 9, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Out : Cap-n-trade
In : Cut-n-run
the_nile on July 9, 2009 at 1:44 PM
I fear Obama will buy off recalcitrant Senators, and settle for now with not getting an agreement that produces much money for him initially, but once the apparatus is in place, it can’t be easily undone. Just as he will go to single-payer health care stealthily, he may be willing to go to cap n trade stealthily.
JiangxiDad on July 9, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Let me get this straight…
This legislation died because of public opinion, not GOP leadership and principled positions?
But, but… HotAir and other pundits have been telling me that we must not hope for Obama to fail, and that we must develop a white paper or something.
My world is upside down. I don’t know what to think.
faraway on July 9, 2009 at 1:44 PM
But it’s much more than just new, onerous, taxation; it’s about capping economic growth, which is pure suicide, especially given our debt and our need for strong growth just to keep up with our obligations.
progressoverpeace on July 9, 2009 at 1:44 PM
I’m continuing to write letters and encourage friends/family to do the same. We can stop this!
bridgetown on July 9, 2009 at 1:44 PM
…giggidy, giggidy…
genso on July 9, 2009 at 1:44 PM
I guess they are hoping Byrd flies away.
patrick neid on July 9, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Chris Matthews:
“Rasmussen’s a republican poll. we don’t do those.” -June 2009
“Now let’s look at the NYT poll that says 72% of americans want govt health care (even though thier poll had just 24% mccain voters, but oh well!)
battleoflepanto1571 on July 9, 2009 at 1:45 PM
There was a farmer had a dog…
LibTired on July 9, 2009 at 1:45 PM
Hear, hear. Hear, hear, hear, hear, hear!!
progressoverpeace on July 9, 2009 at 1:46 PM
Wow, a temporary victory for common sense.
Grafted on July 9, 2009 at 1:46 PM
Are you kidding? Democrat voters are smart enough to understand air conditioners work by eliminating CO2 from the air.
DarkCurrent on July 9, 2009 at 1:47 PM
Obama , as if by coincidence , Sarah can take over Aug 1:st.
the_nile on July 9, 2009 at 1:47 PM
Maybe the Senators actually read the bill?!
Cap & Trade will KILL JOBS!!!
TN Mom on July 9, 2009 at 1:49 PM
Oh no!! What “beloved icon” must we sacrifice this time, so the focus can be taken off the vote?
ihasurnominashun on July 9, 2009 at 1:49 PM
I don’t see that passing court muster, even with Sottomayor added (since she’s a lib replacing a lib). It stands much more of a chance of surviving challenge if it’s the result of legislation, but even then “cap and tax” have serious conflicts with the 4th Amendment since it amounts to confiscation of property.
wildcat84 on July 9, 2009 at 1:49 PM
Barry Obama sat on a wall,
Barry Obama had a great fall.
All the king’s horses,
And all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Barry together again
faraway on July 9, 2009 at 1:49 PM
Adolph’s first setback?
DL13 on July 9, 2009 at 1:50 PM
Way to go Byrd – see he’s good for something, not much, but something
bwconq on July 9, 2009 at 1:50 PM
YES. Way to go Byrd! Pelosi, Waxman, Obama…perhaps this is what “wisdom” sounds like, so listen up chumps.
NickelAndDime on July 9, 2009 at 1:50 PM
They should do us all a favor and start their August recess now.
Christien on July 9, 2009 at 1:50 PM
As bad as Obama has been, I still can’t bring myself to believe he’s intentionally trying to destroy the US economy. I do think he’s misguided and dumb enough to believe government control over everything is the answer, and he definitely favors the redistribution of wealth. But he’s not trying to make everyone poor on purpose.
That’s why the Dems are freaking out right now. They really thought the economy would just heal on its own, as it usually does(when the private sector is left alone, that is). They used the recession as an excuse to hand out nearly a trillion dollars in political payoffs, and now that unemployment is up to 9.5% and climbing, they suddenly realize that they do in fact need to have some sort of coherent economic policy in place.
Doughboy on July 9, 2009 at 1:50 PM
I think they realized that they will get cap and trade, or socialized medicine, but not both. They picked.
Vashta.Nerada on July 9, 2009 at 1:50 PM
Well now, there’s some hope for ya!
scalleywag on July 9, 2009 at 1:51 PM
Ed,
Why did you use a sex doll advertisement photo for this post? Couldn’t you find one of Sen. Boxer?
BobMbx on July 9, 2009 at 1:51 PM
Gee, I find myself on the same side of an issue with Senator Klansman. I feel so dirty.
rbj on July 9, 2009 at 1:52 PM
Yay!!!! I email Senator Nelson every day and “he” sent me a letter basically saying he wouldn’t be able to support it. I’m going to keep on him though, because who’s to say he won’t try to get some stuff that’s harmful to agriculture written out of the Senate version and then vote for it.
Cornhusker on July 9, 2009 at 1:52 PM
If it were a REAL catastrophe, Algore and his fellow “preists” of the “church” of man made global warming would ACT like it was, not just in their rhetoric but in their real lives.
I’ll take it seriously when I see people like Algore moving into a smaller, energy efficient house, ditching his many computers with huge monitors, his own air conditioning, large TV’s, and he starts riding to his global warming conferences in a golf cart instead of via private jets and limousines.
wildcat84 on July 9, 2009 at 1:52 PM
Actually, Obama is already in the process of throwing congress under the bus. That is what the commissars are for.
I think he has about 38 of them in place, and congress, which doesn’t give a flying fornication what we think, anyway, hasn’t so much as whimpered about it.
Obama is making himself a dictator, right in front of God and everybody.
-Dave
Dave R. on July 9, 2009 at 1:53 PM
$540 shoes and $875 purse is affordable?
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
It’s much worse than $875…..
Italian luxury house VBH boasts is their shiny black alligator manila bag – with a retail sticker price of $5,950.
txag92 on July 9, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Hey, who cares, look! Malia’s wearing a peace sign t-shirt in Rome!
max1 on July 9, 2009 at 1:54 PM
It appears Sen. Robert Carlyle Byrd has a little problem with Obama.
fourdeucer on July 9, 2009 at 1:54 PM
I know. I totally think it was the $6k bag, but still even at $875 – is that really affordable fashion sense?
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 1:55 PM
Sen. Byrd also took Mr. Obama to task for the czars. His state is a blue dog type Dem. state. We better hope he holds on for a while longer.
Cindy Munford on July 9, 2009 at 1:56 PM
In a strange way I am disappointed. The only way the msm’s shilling for 0bama will lose its effectiveness is when the disaster of 0bama’s polices is brought to the doorstep of every American. The passage of this POS would’ve brought more GOP votes.
Lou Budvis on July 9, 2009 at 1:56 PM
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
One
Big
A#$
Mistake
America
Cornhusker on July 9, 2009 at 1:56 PM
I’m sure that’s what he has in mind, but time is not on his side. Delay, even if because polls are driving it, means more people have the opportunity to see what is being done to them. He’s going to diddle the unemployment figures as much as he dares.
a capella on July 9, 2009 at 1:56 PM
Awwwww. What about the green people? What about the green jobs? What about the millions of Americans who’ve been waiting with bated breath to pay more for energy, gas and food?
What about the Polar Bears?
darwin on July 9, 2009 at 1:57 PM
I know. I totally think it was the $6k bag, but still even at $875 – is that really affordable fashion sense?
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 1:55 PM
I’m a handbag freak and I think paying $100 is too much. :)
txag92 on July 9, 2009 at 1:57 PM
The lies and deception by the babbling eunuch are becoming so obviuos even the most brainwashed leftwing nutjobs are getting embarrassed. His next attempt will be to circumvent Congress by Executive Orders that violate the laws, but will force HIS will on the country. Since he has surrounded himself with semi-illiterates in his administration, we probably haven’t seen anything yet.
volsense on July 9, 2009 at 1:57 PM
“The party of No is stalling the rescue of the climate”
the_nile on July 9, 2009 at 1:57 PM
It’s either intentional or dumb, misguided stupidity.
DarkCurrent on July 9, 2009 at 1:58 PM
That’s my guess as well. They took Cap-n-Tax off the table, at least for this year, in order to bribe some Senators to vote for the healthcare
reformdisaster.Enoxo on July 9, 2009 at 1:58 PM
I bet they delayed so that the annual Arctic summer melt can be used as a dramatic reason to Save The World!
darwin on July 9, 2009 at 1:58 PM
Jesse Jackson’s been looking a little shaky lately..and as I recall, he threatened to twist Obammy’s nuts…
guntotinglibertarian on July 9, 2009 at 1:59 PM
Obama lied, jobs died.
faraway on July 9, 2009 at 1:59 PM
Earlier this week the WV governor made a trip to DC to talk to Byrd’s staff and had a phone conversation with Byrd. I think there is mounting pressure to get Byrd to step down. Thankfully (on this issue anyway) Byrd is still well enough to tell them to shove off.
myrenovations on July 9, 2009 at 1:59 PM
If that happens the time for peaceful opposition is over.
bill30097 on July 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM
A contrarian view: this isn’t necessarily good news.
Postponement meant Dems didn’t have the votes to get it out of committee. So we would have been better off with an up-or-down vote of the committee right now.
By putting it off until later, Dems have time to do arm-twisting, bribing.
guntotinglibertarian on July 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Heh. One of these days a woman is going to have to explain to me the need for hundreds of purses and shoes. I just don’t get it. The wife buys and buys and buys and never has enough. I have 2 pairs of shoes.
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM
You know, on the subject of green jobs, I completely overlooked GE in all of this. What does this mean for that corporation which is in dire straits and seems to be hinging on the passage of crap-and-betrayed and Obamacare to ensure its own survival?
How will MSNBC deal with the fallout of this?
Doughboy on July 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Courts have already asked the EPA to make that exact determiniation (whether co2 is a pollutant).
When they declare it is, they will slap it into the same framework as SO2, which the 1990 bill specificly put in place.
Both EPAs ability to declare pollutants, and the cap and trade mechanism, have passed court scrutiny.
Romeo13 on July 9, 2009 at 2:02 PM
What an amazing time we live in! Never thought I would be wishing Byrd good health and long life.
guntotinglibertarian on July 9, 2009 at 2:02 PM
Still cleaning my rifle….still reloading shells…
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 2:03 PM
Clearly the answer is to yell crisis and pass a bill nobody has read nor know it’s actually details. [/demicrat controlled legislative branch
jukin on July 9, 2009 at 2:04 PM
*Christmas – That curious little non-secular Conservative Christian celebration right after solstice and right before Kwanzaa.
whitetop on July 9, 2009 at 2:04 PM
A wise man once said, “shut your mouth when the wife is around” or something like that.
I could question my wife’s desire for shoes and geegaws, but then she might question my desire for firearms. Quid pro quo, Agent Starling, quid pro quo.
Bishop on July 9, 2009 at 2:04 PM
I wonder the same thing about my wife….and then I look at my DVD/Blu-ray collection which is approaching 1500 titles and keep my mouth shut. :-)
Doughboy on July 9, 2009 at 2:05 PM
I’ll start up my wind powered computer and check to see, by my solar light, to see what green jobs are available.
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Heh. One of these days a woman is going to have to explain to me the need for hundreds of purses and shoes. I just don’t get it. The wife buys and buys and buys and never has enough. I have 2 pairs of shoes.
lorien1973 on July 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM
As a woman, I don’t understand it either. I break out in hives just walking into a mall. However, I am fine in the handbag department. All other shopping I can do without.
txag92 on July 9, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Obama got the Byrd.
fourdeucer on July 9, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Boxer…Ho…Ho…Ho…
Jeff from WI on July 9, 2009 at 2:07 PM
I understand. But you’ll see. We all will, unfortunately.
He doesn’t really care about redistribution as much as punishing whitey, the successful, and the West, in general. One bit of proof that I cite in support of this thesis is the idiot messiah’s attitude towards capital gains taxes. He was very explicit that he cared more about taxing the rich than getting more money for the poor. He called it “fairness” but it is more generally known as “exacting revenge”.
I don’t blame you for doubting my position on this, as it is such a jaw-dropping notion to think that The Precedent just wants to kill the US, but that is what I gathered from his attitude about almost everything and his calls for “economic and social justice”. The justice he speaks of is bloody and nasty and nothing but revenge for The Precedent’s notions of shame that whitey (and the West) bring on everyone with their overachieving and disproportional contributions to the world’s advancement. When his inauguration has one of his moron speakers talking about “when white will embrace what’s right” and his AG calls us a “nation of cowards” and then goes on to dismiss an already won case against the Black Panthers … it all comes together for me. That is why, I believe, he’s been pushing so much through as fast as he can. He doesn’t care about any of it. He just wants to do as much damage as possible before he gets tossed out.
Anyway, this is the way that I see it all. The Precedent might end up getting seduced by the power and money he now has access to, but to me, he came into the office ready to stick it to whitey and the West and not stop until the US was left nothing but a smoldering husk.
I agree. The Dems don’t want to kill the US (as I say The Precedent does). The Dems are just useful statist idiots.
Eh … I don’t give the Dems that much credit. They are just confused and hit for a loop by the fact that The Precedent’s magic skin hasn’t served as an impenetrable defense. They thought that they could all hide behind his skin for the duration, but they are finding that that might not be the case.
The Dems, unlike The Precedent, want to steal everything they can from the US economy, and want power to run everything. The Precedent wants to destroy everything. The Dems, soon enough, will realize that The Precedent has the same contempt for them as he does for Europe. The boxed set of DVDs to Gordon Brown were a peak in The Precedent’s hospitality.
progressoverpeace on July 9, 2009 at 2:10 PM
Bah Humbug!
:-)
cmsinaz on July 9, 2009 at 2:10 PM
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