Cap and Trade- Taxes and Tyranny

Today the Detroit News glows over an article that says that the auto industry is happy to be getting 3 percent of the money that will be raised over the next 6 years by the government's new 'cap and trade' scheme. It is projected to raise $15 billion dollars for the auto industry.

I'm no expert in math, but if 15 billion is only 3 percent of the money that our government means to suck out of economy, that means the House is passing a tax scheme that will levy $500 billion in new taxes over the next 6 years. That means that this 'cap and trade' scheme is in effect a half trillion dollar tax increase on US citizens.

This $500 billion is a lot of money (enough money to put in place a 'revenue-neutral' national healthcare scheme). Where will it come from? The money will come from auctions for permits to produce more energy and grow America, and will come from fines of those companies that meet the demand of our vibrant industry and citizens and increase energy and growth beyond what the government arbitrarily sets as the cap. The energy companies will suffer only in that their profits might be lowered- but times are tough for all companies, and there is pressure to increase profits for every firm, so soon those costs of doing business that the government is imposing with little reasoning or logic will be passed on to consumers.

The people who will suffer from this scheme are the auto companies, who will find that the $15 billion does little to stem the hundreds of billions they bleed when consumers are no longer allowed to purchase the cars they want to purchase or are forced into buying expensive hybrids. The auto companies will lose jobs, investors will lose money, and society will suffer.

The people who will suffer the most from this cap and trade tax scheme are anyone who uses power in their lives, to power their dishwashers and microwaves and computers and businesses. They will have to pay the increased costs, lowering their cost-competitiveness and efficiency, and putting them at a further disadvantage vs firms in other nations that do no have to bear these government imposed burdens. The poor and those on fixed incomes will be hit especially hard by this scheme, as they will find it difficult to pay electric and gas bills.

And the benefits of this scheme are inconclusive at best. Perhaps less pollutants will be emitted, and a tiny little bit of harmful waste will be emitted into the atmosphere. This perhaps will stop the Earth from warming.