Greg Easterbrook castigates the greens for making the perfect the enemy of the good.
The Waxman-Markey bill has got to be one of the most overloaded pieces of legislation ever to slither through Washington. My favorite part? Tariffs on any country that doesn’t limit greenhouse gases. Because nothing stimulates an economy like destroying free trade.
The Democrats — again — do special favors for unions. I’m getting to the point of almost being shocked at how craven they are.
Barney Frank, never one to pass up a horrid idea, wants to blow the TARP funds on re-inflating the housing bubble. Do these guys never learn anything?
For anyone who remembers how corrupt and vile the Democrats were the last time they were the majority part, this is not a surprise.
If American companies have to pay what amounts to a tax on GHG emission, then doesn’t charging the same tax on imports just level the playing field? Presumably countries with VAT apply the VAT to imported goods, resulting in a big VAT burden for the importer, but we don’t normally characterize that as a “tariff”.
Really, if that’s the most offensive clause you found in Waxman-Markey, then you just aren’t looking hard enough. Or maybe I’m misunderstanding you, and you meant the provision for a tax on foreign emissions was literally your favorite, inasmuch as it was the least objectionable part of the whole bill.
It’s my favorite in that I hate tariffs with a great passion. There’s tons of other horrid stuff in the bill. I think the worst part is that they broke the fundamental thing that might have made it palatable — auctioning off permits instead of giving them out to politically powerful industries.
I see your point. And if we had a carbon tax instead of cap and trade, I’d agree with it. But what we’re doing is moving something from the regulatory framework to the tariff framework. It’s no different, really, from imposing tariffs on countries that don’t meet our ideas of proper employment practices. And I’m sure the Chinese won’t see it as fair and retaliate with tariffs of their own.
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If American companies have to pay what amounts to a tax on GHG emission, then doesn’t charging the same tax on imports just level the playing field? Presumably countries with VAT apply the VAT to imported goods, resulting in a big VAT burden for the importer, but we don’t normally characterize that as a “tariff”.
Really, if that’s the most offensive clause you found in Waxman-Markey, then you just aren’t looking hard enough. Or maybe I’m misunderstanding you, and you meant the provision for a tax on foreign emissions was literally your favorite, inasmuch as it was the least objectionable part of the whole bill.
It’s my favorite in that I hate tariffs with a great passion. There’s tons of other horrid stuff in the bill. I think the worst part is that they broke the fundamental thing that might have made it palatable — auctioning off permits instead of giving them out to politically powerful industries.
I see your point. And if we had a carbon tax instead of cap and trade, I’d agree with it. But what we’re doing is moving something from the regulatory framework to the tariff framework. It’s no different, really, from imposing tariffs on countries that don’t meet our ideas of proper employment practices. And I’m sure the Chinese won’t see it as fair and retaliate with tariffs of their own.