Democrats across the country are running against their own party, when they bother to mention their party affiliation at all.  To hear their ads and speeches, they are all fiscal conservatives angry at the arrogance of power in Washington … even when they’ve been a part of it.  Don’t fall for it, says Henry Waxman. If we leave Democrats in charge of Congress, they will pursue cap-and-trade and the rest of the current agenda:

The campaign to pass climate legislation will continue on Capitol Hill in 2011 – if Democrats are still in charge, that is.

That’s the word Tuesday from a top House Democrat who led the charge over the last two years to pass a major cap-and-trade bill.

Asked if he’d push climate legislation next year if he’s still in a majority leadership position, Waxman told POLITICO, “If we haven’t done the job completely this year, we’ll continue to fight it next year through the House and the Senate.”

Some of the House Democrats from heavy industrial districts who voted for the Waxman-led climate bill are now under fire on the campaign trail, a point that the congressman from Beverly Hills also bemoaned.

“I think we’ve got to get away form looking at this issue as a partisan issue,” Waxman said. “Unfortunately it has become partisan, as has everything become partisan. Even the Republican voters seem in their minds to identify the [climate] science as somewhat partisan. But I think the issue is becoming more and more serious and people are realizing it, which I hope will increase the pressure on the Congress to take the actions we need to.”

Waxman finds it odd that Republicans would make top-down government control of energy production a “partisan issue”?  He’s either being disingenuous or actually believes that everyone wants government running everything — or perhaps a little of both.

And besides, it’s not just a partisan issue.  Had that been the case, Democrats could have passed the House cap-and-trade bill in the Senate with their 60 votes in the summer of 2009.  Enough Democrats objected to it that they couldn’t get a vote on it, and the Senate had to write their own version of it, which has gone nowhere.  Senators representing coal-producing and coal-reliant states in both parties have balked at the massive scheme, which not only would create massive inflationary pressure on the economy but wouldn’t reduce carbon emissions anyway, as Europe’s failed system has demonstrated.

While Democrats around the country run against the Nancy Pelosi/Barack Obama agenda, Waxman reminds voters what they will really do if voters leave Congress in their hands.  That will make a great public service announcement for the midterms.