Cap & Trade Blank Checks

Would you hand somebody a blank check, signed and available for that person to fill in whatever amount they wish? That’s a good way to go bankrupt. But that’s exactly what the Cap & Trade bill, as passed by the House, does.

I use as my source for this one Jamie Dupree, who is a reporter covering Congress, and posts periodic blogs about interesting subjects. He has been focusing on Cap & Trade because of the vast amount of interest out here in America. And Jamie Dupree found an interesting phrase repeatedly in the bill: “Such sums as may be necessary.”

“One thing I zeroed in on were certain parts of the bill that were entitled ‘Authorization of Appropriations.’ In other words, the bill ‘authorizes’ the Congress to spend certain amounts for certain items in the Cap and Trade legislation. But in many cases, it authorizes a never ending amount of money, just ‘such sums’ as might be necessary. ‘There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this paragraph,’ it says on page 24 of the Waxman Amendment. Oh, you just gotta like that one. ‘Such sums as may be necessary.’ I think I would call that an open-ended appropriation.”

Obviously, these blank checks will boost the cost of this bill considerably. There are 20 sections that are authorized “such sums as may be necessary.”

* Sec. 122. Large-scale vehicle electrification program.
* Sec. 123. Plug-in electric drive vehicle manufacturing.
* Sec. 131. Establishment of SEED Accounts.
* Sec. 144. Smart Grid peak demand reduction goals.
* Sec. 216A Transmission planning.
* Sec. 184. Clean energy investment fund.
* Sec. 319. Office of Consumer Advocacy.
* Sec. 201. Greater energy efficiency in building codes.
* Sec. 205. Tree planting programs.
* Sec. 214. Best-in-Class Appliances Deployment Program.
* Sec. 241. Industrial plant energy efficiency standards.
* Sec. 242. Electric and thermal waste energy recovery award program.
* Sec. 265. Consumer behavior research.
* Sec. 273. Affiliated island energy independence team.
* Sec. 296. Residential energy efficiency block grant program.
* Sec. 705. Review and program recommendations.
* Sec. 706. National Academy review.
* Sec. 333. Black carbon.
* Sec. 433. Protection of Social Security and Medicare trust funds.
* Sec. 480. Natural Resources Climate Change Adaptation Fund.

And look for the feeding frenzy to begin, as the Feds will pay manufacturers of “energy efficient appliances” for each and every unit they produce. We’re talking $75 for a dishwasher, $200 for a refrigerator, and $300 for a water heater. Considering the number of appliances produced each year in the United States, that is going to cost taxpayers a BUNDLE!

For some more details on spending in the Cap & Tax bill, try these links:

http://wsbradio.com/blogs/jamie_dupree/2009/07/cap-and-trade-extras.html

http://wsbradio.com/blogs/jamie_dupree/2009/07/more-cap-and-trade.html

Aren’t you glad we have PresBo in office?