PDA

View Full Version : Lindsey Graham - SC(R) - to spearhead new gas tax as part of climate bill




Anti Federalist
04-15-2010, 05:39 PM
The money quote in bold. (Hat tip to Cowlesy for that phrase btw)


Senators consider gasoline tax as part of climate bill

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gas-tax14-2010apr14,0,5207349.story

Leading voices in the Senate are considering a new tax on gasoline as part of an effort to win Republican and oil industry support for the energy and climate bill now idling in Congress.

The tax, which according to early estimates would be in the range of 15 cents a gallon, was conceived with the input of several oil companies, including Shell, BP and ConocoPhillips, and is being championed by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

It is shaping up as a critical but controversial piece in the efforts by Graham, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to write a climate bill that moderate Republicans could support. Along those lines, the bill will also include an expansion of offshore oil drilling and major new incentives for nuclear power plant construction.

Environmental groups have long advocated gasoline taxes to reduce fossil fuel consumption; the oil industry has spent heavily in recent years to fight taxes, which it says would harm consumers.

In this case, though, several oil companies like the tax because it figures to cost them far less than other proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including provisions in the climate bill the House passed last year.

The Senate bill's sponsors appear to want the revenue raised from the tax to fund a variety of programs that would lower industrial emissions, including helping manufacturers reduce energy use or boosting wind and solar power installations by electric utilities.

But the tax has encountered stiff behind-the-scenes resistance from some Democrats, who fear the political specter of increasing gasoline prices as the national average cost of gasoline is expected to crest $3 a gallon this summer.

And no other Republicans have publicly announced support for the framework legislation that Graham and the others are circulating on Capitol Hill. Attracting significant Republican support for a bill featuring a tax increase would run counter to historical political trends and to the anti-tax outrage percolating among the "tea party" activists in the GOP base.

Sources say the resistance extends to some Obama administration officials. In a statement, White House spokesman Ben Labolt said only that President Obama was "encouraged by the work of Sens. Kerry, Lieberman and Graham to move forward bipartisan, comprehensive energy and climate legislation" and that "we look forward to reviewing the details of the legislation when they are finalized."

Some industry analysts and environmentalists question how much a tax would do to reduce emissions from gasoline, particularly if the extra cost to motorists is measured in cents, not dollars.

Proponents call the tax approach under consideration a "linked fee," because it links the extra cost for gasoline to the average cost of greenhouse gas emission permits created through a so-called cap-and-trade system for electric utilities. That system would set a declining limit on emissions from power plants and force utilities to buy permits, on a trading market, to emit heat-trapping gases. Under the linked-fee proposal, gasoline taxes would rise in tandem with the prices of industrial emission permits, or fall if the price of permits declines.

As negotiations build toward a scheduled unveiling of the bill next week, it's still unclear whether major oil companies and their trade group, the American Petroleum Institute, will explicitly endorse the legislation or at least agree not to fund an ad campaign opposing it. Proponents of a climate bill say such backing would be a major coup.

"Getting major oil companies to truly and aggressively support a specific bill mandating greenhouse gas emissions limits and a carbon price would be a significant political accomplishment," said Paul W. Bledsoe, a former Clinton administration official now with the bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy.

Other analysts wonder whether increasingly populist Republicans would follow the industry and support the bill.

"It's not clear that a linked fee creates a path to 60 votes" to overcome Senate procedural hurdles, said Scott Segal, a lobbyist for the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm in Washington who represents utilities and refiners on climate policy.

Unquestionably, Big Oil can be a formidable opponent: The petroleum institute recently spent millions on ads blasting an Obama proposal to end some industry tax breaks. The group is currently neutral on the linked-fee plan. It needs to see details on the full climate bill and an Energy Information Administration analysis of its effects before taking a position, said Lou Hayden, its senior director for federal relations.

If oil companies do back the bill, climate activists will find themselves joining forces with an industry they've long demonized. The tax could also put senators who vote for the bill at the mercy of election attacks if gas prices spike before November -- even though the tax would probably not kick in for several years.

justinc.1089
04-15-2010, 05:45 PM
This b*****d is supposed to represent ME?!

Who the hell does this guy think he is?!

D**m him to hell is what I say. I can't believe even he has the balls to do something like this. I can't afford gas now. I hardly ever fill my car up completely now days because I'm a poor broke college student. And he is going to save us from global warming by forcing us to use less gas by increasing the price we pay for gas?!!!!!:mad::mad::mad:

I can't believe this shit!!!!

He should be doing the OPPOSITE and fighting to REDUCE taxes on us!!!!

So that we CAN AFFORD TO PAY FOR GAS!!!

Damn!!! I at a loss for words over this! Seriously he already called us in South Carolina racist biggots and has done all kinds of other stuff but I could not see this coming.

phill4paul
04-15-2010, 05:52 PM
Well SC has been low in gas tax for quite a while. N.C. is the east coasts highest! N.C. border residents have been crossing the boarder for may years now.

Life serves the government lemonades..they raise taxes.

purplechoe
04-15-2010, 05:56 PM
I thought this "guy" was supped to be opposing climate change legislation (as opposed to being for it all this time) because Obama rammed the health care bill down our throats... :rolleyes:

http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/lindsey-graham-ron-paul-party-300x225.jpg

http://mikk2.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/vanity-fair-mccain-lieberman-graham3.jpg

Anti Federalist
04-15-2010, 06:11 PM
http://mikk2.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/vanity-fair-mccain-lieberman-graham3.jpg

That...is a very, very, very disturbing image.

purplechoe
04-15-2010, 06:15 PM
That...is a very, very, very disturbing image.

Well, these are very, very, very disturbed individuals... :eek: I mean collectivists...

DapperDan
04-15-2010, 06:15 PM
That...is a very, very, very disturbing image.

This is what nightmares are made of.

BenIsForRon
04-15-2010, 06:17 PM
He should be doing the OPPOSITE and fighting to REDUCE taxes on us!!!!

So that we CAN AFFORD TO PAY FOR GAS!!!


You're already paying $7 a gallon for gas after the wars and the subsidies. You might want to look into purchasing one of these:

http://www.carbuncle.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/bicycles_kensington_high_street_london_carbuncle.j pg

Anti Federalist
04-15-2010, 06:53 PM
Well, these are very, very, very disturbed individuals... :eek: I mean collectivists...

That they are :mad:

Still, like DD stated, that image will be in my nightmares

:D

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2009/4/17/128844541921667827.jpg

satchelmcqueen
04-15-2010, 07:36 PM
good for the new tax. now i can keep less of my money. i wish they would just make me work for free.

LibForestPaul
04-15-2010, 07:44 PM
LANSING, MI - Michigan lawmakers have proposed a 6-cent increase in the state's diesel tax to help pay for road improvements, the Associated Press reported.

Under the bills introduced Jan. 26, the state's 15-cent per gallon diesel tax would rise to 21 cents this year, a 40 percent increase. It would rise to 27 cents in 2013, AP said.

The 19-cent per gallon gas tax would increase to 23 cents this year under the proposal, and then 27 cents in 2013, AP said. The taxes would raise an additional $480 million per year once fully implemented.


ndustry group plugs higher diesel tax in 20-year plan for waterways development

The inland waterways industry is willing to pay higher fuel taxes to repair and maintain aging locks and dams if it can get Congress and the White House to agree.

A plan to fund the waterways system in part through a 30 to 45 percent increase in the diesel tax paid by barge and tow operators is in its final stages of preparation, Waterways Council officials said March 8 at the National Press Club in Washington.

Fuel taxes in the United States vary by state. For the first quarter of 2009, the mean state gasoline tax is 27.2 cents per US gallon, plus 18.4 cents per US gallon federal tax making the total 45.6 cents per US gallon (12.0 ¢/L). For diesel, the mean state tax is 26.6 cents per US gallon plus an additional 24.4 cents per US gallon federal tax making the total 50.8 cents US per gallon (13.4 ¢/L).[7] There are also a few states that charge sales tax on top of the excise taxes and the retail price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Gasoline_Taxes_April_2009.svg


diesel tax = $$$ food, goods, energy, shipping

Noob
04-15-2010, 07:48 PM
Maybe we should give the Oil companys Tax immunity, na that would never work.


Senate Cap and Trade Bill Skipping Committee Process-Will Be Drafted Behind Closed Doors

If you enjoyed the lack of transparency shown by the Senate when crafting their version of Obamacare, you will love the way they plan on crafting the Cap and Trade legislation. Instead of introducing the bill and sending it to committee, future Nevada Senator Emeritus, Harry Reid is taking over the process. Just as he did during the Obamacare process, Reid will be taking the bill drafting process behind his closed office doors for the deal making.

Next week, Reid will be handed the reins of the bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions while expanding domestic oil, gas and nuclear power production. His challenge could not be tougher…

In an effort to keep the bill in Reid’s hands, the sponsors — Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) won’t officially introduce the bill in the Senate when they unveil it to the public next week.

“If we introduce it, it’ll get referred to committees,” Lieberman said. “We want him to be able to work with it and bring it out onto the floor as a leader whenever he’s ready.”

There are those who hope that Joe Lieberman switches parties when he has to run for reelection in 2012. His cooperation with this secrecy effort is a good indication of why the country would be better off if Joe stayed in his own (Democratic) party and was defeated by a Republican.

Already, some senators also are raising red flags about the committee process, which they warn may be circumvented if the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman proposal moves directly into Reid’s office.

“These bills need to go through committee,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). “If you’re talking about making major deals on energy policy, it needs to go through the Energy Committee. If you’re making major deals on tax policy, it needs to go through the Finance Committee. I mean, if you want to get it done.”

What Senator Cantwell is forgetting is a committee process would make it much harder to insert provisions like the “Corn Husker Kickback” inserted into the Obamacare bill.

Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), a possible swing vote, said he would prefer the committee process remain intact for the energy and climate bill — rather than shifting the debate into Reid’s office. “This concept of going through the leader’s office is a new concept in the legislative flow chart,” Gregg said.

Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) repeated his call to move to floor debate on S. 1462, the “energy only” approach “There are not a lot of weeks left in this legislative session, and my fervent hope is, I would say to those who have been working on climate change and blocking our ability to bring an energy bill to the floor of the Senate, I hope perhaps we could find a way to work together to bring the energy bill to the floor,” Dorgan said. “That’s the way the Senate works. The Senate works by running things through a committee.”

Senate progressives are looking for every opportunity to circumvent dissent and to do an end-around the Committee process. It certainly is not the openness and transparency we were promised in 2008. Transparency is no longer important to the progressives, now its all about checking off more items from their agenda before the 2010 elections when they will once again be forced to negotiate compromises with the GOP. Until then, they were able to cut deals behind closed doors in the case of Obamacare, and while they caught some hell, in the end they were still able to shove health care down our throats. Now they are following the same road map for cap and tax legislation.

That old stereotype of politicians working in “smoke-filled” backrooms are becoming the new normal (without the smoke). Just as it was during the Obamacare process, this is an affront to the promises of transparency promised by the President during the campaign. It is a corruption of the way our government was outlined by our Founding Fathers. Power, they said, was to be in the hands of the American People, not in the back rooms of the Senate Majority Leader’s office.

http://www.redstate.com/jeffdunetz/2010/04/15/senate-cap-and-trade-bill-skipping-committee-process-will-be-drafted-behind-closed-doors/

Koz
04-15-2010, 08:29 PM
Graham is going to be pissed when Ron Paul is President.

Danke
04-15-2010, 08:43 PM
That...is a very, very, very disturbing image.

You're the one to be talking.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=2610270&postcount=231

phill4paul
04-15-2010, 08:53 PM
You're the one to be talking.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=2610270&postcount=231

Pwned. LOL.

Danke
04-15-2010, 09:02 PM
Pwned. LOL.

AF is desperately searching RPFs right now trying to dig up some dirt on me.

Anti Federalist
04-15-2010, 09:09 PM
AF is desperately searching RPFs right now trying to dig up some dirt on me.

I thought Danke was a chick.

LOL

:D

lx43
04-15-2010, 10:30 PM
Join http://www.downsizedc.org send a letter to all 3 representatives to oppose any tax increases (esp Lindsey Graham if your from SC).