Last week the House of Representatives barely passed a “cap and trade” bill, and the Senate may take up similar legislation later this year. Should a cap and trade program similar to the one passed by the House become law, it would have a significant impact on all sectors of our economy, so it is important that Congress considers this legislation with thoughtful debate and an open exchange of ideas. Unfortunately, it appears as though the Obama Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency is not interested in open debate, but rather pushing through a closed ideological agenda.

Recently, an email exchange has been made public in which Dr. Al McGartland, Director of the National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE), apparently suppresses the scientific views of Dr. Alan Carlin, an NCEE economist. Dr. Carlin strongly believed that the EPA erred in determining that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses should be regulated by the EPA under the authority of the Clean Air Act. In his email, Dr. McGartland states: Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, the American people woke up to the news that the CEOs of many large financial institutions are receiving bonuses that are way out of touch with the rest of the working world.

It’s one thing to pay executives well if their company performs well, but it’s another to provide astronomical bonuses when they perform poorly.

Unfortunately, I believe many agencies in the federal government are doing the exact same thing by paying bonuses to outside contractors who do not perform well. Read the rest of this entry »

Ron Bonjean, President of The Bonjean Company, said:

“Most Americans don’t understand the arcane rules of the United States Senate. What they do understand are bipartisan accomplishments reached by Congress on issues like the economy, health care and climate change. Therefore, the 60 seat threshold might only serve the Democrats well on procedural votes.”

Lanny J. Davis, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

“Al Franken’s biggest impact in joining the Senate is Al Franken himself - he’s smart, progressive, and a lot more pragmatic than his talk show persona might suggest. If he follows Hillary Clinton’s method - be a workhorse, not a shorthouse - he will have an immense impact.”

John Samples, Director of the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute, said:

“Al Franken’s court-awarded victory in Minnesota will not completely end filibusters and gridlock in the Senate. His victory is much less significant than what many congressional observers are saying.

It has, however, affected how the Democratic leadership will need to distribute pork to bring controversial legislation to a vote.

If Franken had lost, Democratic leaders would have needed to attract at least one Republican vote to end a filibuster. Norm Coleman, Franken’s opponent, was not likely to be that vote. Coleman’s voting record in 2008 was much less liberal than the two Republicans from Maine. One of those two could have extracted benefits for Maine voters in exchange for agreeing to override a filibuster. Now their votes may matter less, and voters in Maine should expect less from Washington for the time being. READ THE FULL RESPONSE HERE.

Larry J. Sabato, Director of the UVA Center for Politics and professor of politics, said:

“Obviously, it’s both, depending on the day and circumstance. The Senate has many razor-thin votes, and this one additional Democrat will make the difference on some nominations and controversial policy issues. At the same time, the 60-mark is overemphasized. Senators aren’t automatons, or as Trent Lott put it in his book title, rounding up senators for anything is like ‘herding cats.’”

Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, said:

“One more vote always matters.”

Dean Baker, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said:

The point is not that reaching 60 seals everything for the Dems either in reality or symbolically. The point is that it is a big step towards changing the dynamics on important votes.

By making it substantially easier to get to sixty on key votes, the additional seat changes the logic for the marginal senator from being a determined holdout to being a dealmaker. There is a lot to be gained from being the 60th vote, there is little value in being 61.

There is likely to be a greater willingness by the few remaining Republican moderates to cut deals in the cases where the Dems can’t sustain a unified bloc.

Tom McClusky, Senior Vice President for FRC Action, said:

“Will this be the year of Al Franken? Or the decade? Doubtful. While Senator Franken (excuse me, a little bit of my breakfast just reappeared in my mouth as I said that) supports the out there agenda that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants to push, he still does not give the Majority Leader the blessed sixty votes needed to pass some of the radical things he is proposing. Card check, Obama’s version of immigration reform, forcing taxpayers to pay for abortions, or the Democratic leaders vision of government takeover of health care - these are all to out of the mainstream for many voters, including those in conservative states with Democratic Senators. And while now it appears that Al Franken is good enough, and smart enough for the U.S. Senate - that says more about how far the Senate has fallen then how high the former comedian has risen. Only in this topsy-turvy world could the Senator from Minnesota end up making Senators like Chris Dodd with his questionable sweetheart financial deals and John Ensign with his questionable sweethearts look good by comparison. I think after a while Senator Reid might start missing Norm Coleman.”

Herbert London, President of the Hudson Institute, said:

“Franklin’s victory in Minnesota not only gives the Democrats a 60-40 edge in the United States Senate, it also offers a filibuster proof majority. There is virtually nothing the Republicans can do to offset Democratic legislative initiatives other than convincing Senator Lieberman that he should caucus with Republicans.

In my judgment, this is not merely a sad day for the Republican party; it is a sad day for the Republic when one party so dominates the legislative agenda.”

Bertha Lewis, CEO of ACORN, said

“Yes.”

READ THE LAST BIG QUESTION HERE.

Moving forward, it’s vital that we make the necessary reforms to our financial regulatory framework, but the President’s proposals miss the mark.

First of all, he proposes expanding the role of the Federal Reserve – the big spender that has pumped about $8 trillion of your money into Wall Street’s bailout with just about no accountability, oversight, or transparency.  Turning the Fed into a super-regulator is not the answer.

But, he also proposes a new agency that will give government bureaucrats the task of deciding which financial products are suitable for consumers.  This proposal raises more questions than it answers.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Supreme Court has now decided Ricci v. DeStefano, commonly known as the New Haven firefighter case. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court decision that was joined by Judge Sotomayor. The Second Circuit saw the case as an easy victory of for the city of New Haven because the city’s refusal to follow the merit-based test was “simply” trying to avoid a lawsuit. The Supreme Court flatly disagreed. According to the Supreme Court, the city’s conduct was not only unlawful but “antithetical to the notion of a workplace where individuals are guaranteed equal opportunity regardless of race.” And while the Supreme Court vote was divided, all nine Justices had criticisms of how the case was resolved in the lower courts. Read the rest of this entry »

H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, represents efforts to reach consensus across our diverse membership and produce legislation that seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions both at home and abroad.

If Congress does nothing, greenhouse gas emissions could be regulated administratively through the EPA without input from Members that represent diverse constituencies nationwide.

Read the rest of this entry »

Global warming is a real and serious threat to our planet. As the world’s temperatures continue to rise, so do the dangers to life as we know it.

In light of this moral, scientific, geopolitical and existential challenge, what is the proper response of our country? Should America ignore the risks and act as if the problem does not exist or face the facts and tackle the issue head on?

Read the rest of this entry »

I voted against the Cap and Trade Climate bill this afternoon. As someone who has spent a decade regulating air pollution while serving on the California Air Resources Board and the County of San Diego Air Pollution Control District, I looked at this bill and came to the conclusion that the greatest threat to the environment was all the smoke from the backroom deals that have been made to put this Cap and Trade Climate bill together. This is a bill that attempts to bring about clean coal… but the concept of clean coal is just as logical as the concept of safe cigarettes.  Twenty years ago, the House of Representatives made a mistake by approving the snake-oils called ethanol and MTBE. Congress could have had the courage to admit that mistake through this bill, but it is clear that the leadership in today’s House of Representatives lacks that courage.

For South Jersey residents who lived through the energy crisis of the 1970s, the nation witnessed the rationing of gas, stations sold-out of fuel, and our country’s absolute reliance on foreign nations to save us from our increasing consumption. Jobs were lost. The economy sank further into recession. And the nation did not take action.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week I introduced an important piece of legislation that will give seniors, people with disabilities, and their families, the option to choose adult day care as a covered service in Medicare.  Put simply, this would provide beneficiaries a new option without adding to the cost of Medicare.  So, if a patient qualifies for home health care, they can choose to receive care at their home OR they can choose to receive care at adult day centers. Read the rest of this entry »