Cap and Trade

Obama is mastering the art of talking out of both sides of his mouth.

When Obama was interviewed by the San Fransisco Chronicle in January of 2008, he said:

“You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know, under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I'm capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it -- whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”

He also said, "So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

So he's already admitted that electricity rates are going to skyrocket under his plan and it will cause loss of jobs, and yet now that he's trying to pass this terrible policy he's saying, "Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth."

Hmm...you mean that misinformation that came out of your mouth last year?

Luckily, only people who make more than $250,000 per year use electricity so they're the only ones who will be paying for this. Oh wait...

Health Care

I have a few quick thoughts on Obama's proposed health care overhaul.

1. The current proposal is supposed to cost somewhere between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years (yeah, right) and will take the currently 50 million uninsured Americans down to 37 million uninsured Americans (um, that's not insuring every American, Obamateur). That math would mean every person they insure will cost the government $123,000 over the next 10 years. Are we putting these people in gold plated hospital beds and hiring Britney Spears to be their personal nurse?

2. Part of the plan to pay for the health care overhaul is to make cuts to medicaid and medicare. Does this sound completely idiotic to anybody else? The government can't afford the entitlement programs that they already have, but they are going to start taking away money (and therefore, benefits) from the programs already designed to help the elderly and poor receive health care.

3. But the thing that really gets my leg tingling is the part of the plan where Obama says we might start taxing employer provided benefits. Hmm...why does that plan sound familiar? Oh yeah, that's the plan McCain proposed during the campaign that Obama mocked.