Is Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade legislation really an unemployment bill?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill stuffed full of unpleasant surprises
By: Examiner Editorial
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05/22/09 4:39 AM EDT Congress is considering the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade legislation and guess what? It’s  stuffed full of unpleasant surprises for the unwary. But thank goodness for the eagle-eyed folks at the American Energy Alliance, who spotted this little gem on page 781 of the mammoth 946-page bill:
 
“Title IV, Subtitle B, Part 2, Section 426, of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 states: ‘An eligible worker (specifically, workers who lose their jobs as a result of this measure) may receive a climate change adjustment allowance under this subsection for a period of not longer than 156 weeks…80 percent of the monthly premium of any health insurance coverage…up to a maximum payment of $1,500 in relocation allowance…and job search expenses not exceed[ing] $1,500.’”

If cap-and-trade is an energy and global warming bill, why is a three-year package of unemployment benefits, job training and relocation expenses buried deep within its fine print? And why is a federally subsidized “job bank” needed if laid-off workers would quickly be rehired for higher-paying “green” jobs? The fact that generous unemployment benefits are buried in the bill means that “green jobs are bunk,” the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Ben Lieberman told The Examiner.

...There’s no getting around it: Higher energy costs will inevitably lead to higher consumer prices and fewer jobs...

How many jobs were lost when gas went to $5 a gallon?

read the rest here -
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/Waxman-Markey-cap-and-trade-bill-stuffed-full-of-unpleasant-surprises-45836042.html

No jobs for you America.

[WhiskeyGirl]

What exactly is the 'job bank'?  This sound like a generic name for 'slush fund'.

IIRC, the autoworkers have some kind of 'job bank' that was blamed for some of the financial problems of the car companies.  I think it paid workers like 95% of their salary for 3-5 years.

Also, in order to have a 'job bank' does that mean a closed number of employees?  A new order guild?  No one new or different need apply?  Invitation only, like for many of the past big three job openings?  Limited competition?

Modern guild?

[WhiskeyGirl]

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, who heads the American Energy Solutions Group, characterized the bill Wednesday at a hearing at the Indianapolis Central Library as an imperialistic “economic declaration of war by the liberals on the Midwest.” He noted that eight of Indiana’s nine Congressional districts will be negatively impacted because of the high amounts of energy Indiana’s large manufacturing base needs to “make things” while states on the coasts like California, Washington and Vermont will benefit.

No jobs for you America.

Daniels said the “cap and trade legislation fails the test of government that works. The cost of this policy will be certain, massive and immediate. The benefits of these policies will be dubious, miniscule and decades in the distance...consider whether there’s a better way to achive goals we all agree on.”

America was built on cheap, affordable, available energy.  What we need now is cheap, affordable, available energy that is also clean.

Do welfare and unemployment programs belong in an 'energy' bill?

And Daniels added, “I’m concerned about the rate payers we won’t see: the companies who won’t come if energy becomes dramatically more expensive.”

U.S. Rep. Dan Burton characterized the Waxman-Markey bill as a potential “anchor” on the Indiana economy. U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer said that a variety of studies show the increased cost of energy on a family of four would be between $2,500 and $3,100 annually with electric utility rates increasing 40 to 50 percent. He called it a “jobs stealer” and added that many Democratic colleagues “are scared to death of this bill.” All the Republicans complained that Waxman-Markey contains no provisions for expanding nuclear energy.

No jobs for you America.  The anti-American Administration at work again plans to send them all offshore to places like China, Mexico, and India...

http://www.howeypolitics.com/2009/05/27/hoosier-gop-sound-alarm-over-cap-trade/

Why does a progressive clean energy bill, include unemployment and job bank benefits?  Where is the innovation?  The progress?

Is unemployment and welfare considered progress by the Obama administration?

just my humble opinions

[WhiskeyGirl]

The rest of the article is even more distressing -

...Indiana gets 96 percent of its power from coal and said that the legislation “is not cap and trade, this bill is a straight tax increase.” He said the bill contains no provisions for new technology...

...the manufacturing of green technologies “will not be allowed to be made in the U.S.” because making, for instance, wind turbine blades, require too much energy. “We are going from a manufacturing state to a welfare state all in one bill,” Irwin said.

...Waxman-Markey would force utility increases in the 25 to 40 percent range and he noted that a third of his customers are already struggling to pay their bills.

People who actually PAY utility bills have already been hit by steep increases in the past five to ten years.  They need real relief.  They need good jobs to pay ALL their bills.

...many of the state’s 75 foundries are considering going to night shifts so they can take advantage of off-peak power rates if cap and trade passes. He said that the physics of melting metal are fixed and that a dramatic increase in energy costs will force many foundries out of business or to move abroad.

For all of Barack's talk of leveling the playing field for American business, why is he raising energy costs on business and families?  There has to be a better way.  He needs to toss away policies that don't work.  Cap and trade didn't work in Europe...

Where is the political will to work for a better America?  Why promote policies that kill current jobs, and prevent new jobs and business startups?  Why keep promoting policies that don't work - policies that favor big business, big banks and investment firms, and big government businesses (U.S. China India) over Main Street?

When will America work FOR ALL Americans?

jmho