Our new energy tax...

Well, despite our best efforts, the U.S. House passed The American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), also known as Cap and Trade or Cap and Tax. Some believe (as I do) that this will be the largest tax increase in history. Even though it seems like the passage of this bill seems like really bad news, there appears to be reason to not worry just yet.

First, it was a close vote, 219-212. Actually, that's not really a great thing, because it if it passes, it passes, there is no in-between. But a positive aspect of this vote was the 44 Democrats that joined the Republicans in voting against this bill. On the other hand, 8 Republicans defected and joined the Majority in voting for this bill. What this tells me is that this bill did not get simply pushed through the House. Enough Congressmen voiced the disapproval of this bill in the face of the President's claims.

Second, there's talk among conservatives that while this is good for Democrats now, it will be better for Republicans later, especially in 2010. More and more, the general public is starting to come around and voice a disapproval of the job their Congress is doing. The more Democrats get what they want, it will be easier for the Republicans to regain control of the House and the Senate as it becomes more and more apparent that a Democrat-controlled Congress is hurting this country and not helping it.

There were many Democrat Representatives that were content to not vote on Friday. It's not any secret, though, that these Representatives were under a lot of pressure from President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to pass this bill. Several Representatives reluctantly voted for this bill when they would have preferred to abstain or maybe even vote against this bill. This has led to some speculation that these Congressmen might have consequently, "walked the plank" for nothing. Some, if not most Republicans feel that this bill will be dead on arrival when it reaches the Senate floor. As most Americans realize that this bill is nothing more than a huge tax increase, they'll look to replace those in Congress that supported.

Even though the Senate may now be filibuster-proof with the confirmed election of Al Franken as the Senator from Minnesota, we can still have a say in what happens. I urge everyone to contact their Senators and express your disapproval of this destructive energy tax.

Anyway, don't mind me, I'm just rumbling.