Steve Scalise is a Republican in his first full term
representing Louisiana’s First Congressional District, replacing
now-Gov. Bobby Jindal. He is active in the debate over energy
policy, particularly cap-and-trade.
TAS: With the recent defection of Arlen
Specter to the Democratic Party, does the role of the Republican
minority change? What institutional leverage do Republicans still
have in Congress?
Congressman Scalise: Sen. Specter almost lost
the Republican primary in 2004. His switch was purely a
politically motivated decision on his part to try salvaging his
re-election chances, which are still in jeopardy.
TAS: The sad passing of Jack Kemp
reminds us that Republicans have previously come up with
innovative policy ideas while in the minority — and those ideas
haven’t always come from people in the leadership. What are some
of the new ideas being formulated by today’s Republican minority?
Congressman Scalise: I have been working with
many other Republicans to propose solutions that address many of
our nation’s problems. We have proposed common-sense solutions
rooted in the ideals of lower taxes, less government and more
individual freedom. There is a growing group of core
conservatives who have stood up against taxpayer-funded bailouts
and reckless spending, while proposing fiscally responsible
solutions to get our economy back on track, provide tax relief to
families and small businesses and balance the federal budget.
TAS: What will the consequences be of
the cap-and-trade energy plan being pushed by President Obama and
congressional Democrats?
Congressman Scalise: President Obama is
proposing a “cap and trade” energy tax that will raise utility
costs on every American family to generate $646 billion in new
taxes, while shipping millions of American jobs to foreign
countries. According to the National Association of
Manufacturers, the President’s bill will cost 3 – 4 million jobs
that will be shipped to countries like China, India and Brazil.
According to Peter Orszag, the President’s own budget director,
the average American family would pay about $1300 more in utility
costs per year for a 15% reduction in CO2 emissions, which is
significantly less than the cap sought in President Obama’s
proposed budget. Orszag testified before Congress last year
saying that price increases borne by consumers are essential to
the success of their “cap and trade” energy tax.
Even President Obama has acknowledged that his “cap and trade”
energy tax will lead to higher electricity prices when he
said, “under my
plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would
necessarily skyrocket.”
As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has
jurisdiction over national energy policy, I will continue
fighting to oppose bad policies that threaten our economy. Rather
than a “cap and trade” scheme that will raise taxes on American
families and ship millions of jobs overseas, we need to pass a
comprehensive national energy policy that will further develop
the technologies for renewable sources of energy like wind and
solar, encourage more conservation, while also expanding our own
natural resources including oil, natural gas, clean coal, and
nuclear power.
TAS: How likely is this plan to pass in
its current form?
Congressman Scalise: The more information
Americans find out about the “cap and trade” energy tax, the more
they don’t like this attempt to impose a national tax on energy
while shipping millions of American jobs overseas. That’s why
Chairman Waxman has refused to disclose many of the key details
of the bill while using procedural tricks to deny the very
transparency that they promised the American people. Even former
Chairman Dingell (D-MI) said of “cap and trade,” “It’s a tax, and
a great big one.” The American people are seeing more and more
that President Obama’s “cap and trade” proposal is nothing short
of an energy tax that will raise utility rates on all families
while shipping millions of jobs overseas.
TAS: What would a Republican energy and
environmental agenda look like?
Congressman Scalise: I joined with more than 40
House Republicans to introduce The American Energy Innovation Act
that represents a fiscally responsible approach to reducing our
dependence on Middle Eastern oil, producing more renewable
alternative sources of energy, and putting more Americans to work
by:
Promoting greater conservation and efficiency by providing
incentives for reducing energy demand and creating a cleaner,
more sustainable environment.
Increasing the production of American energy by responsibly
utilizing all available resources and technologies and
streamlining burdensome regulations.
Encouraging innovation within the energy industry to create the
renewable fuel options and energy careers of tomorrow.
TAS: Does the Environmental Protection
Agency legally possess the authority it recently claimed to
regulate carbon dioxide and other gases?
Congressman Scalise: The EPA’s proposal is a
power grab orchestrated by radical environmentalists to help the
President pass his reckless “cap and trade” energy tax that will
raise energy and utility costs on every American family, and ship
millions of American jobs overseas.
I have co-sponsored legislation (H.R.391) that would clarify that
EPA does not have the authority under the Clean Air Act to
regulate Greenhouse gases, which they have never before had the
authority to regulate.
TAS: Can the Obama administration
quantify how many “green jobs” its policies will create? Does it
even have a consistent definition of what a green job is?
Congressman Scalise: I asked EPA administrator
Sheila Jackson this same question in an Energy and Commerce
Committee hearing last month. She had no answer for us. What we
do know is that according to a Spain study, for every “green job”
Spain created, they lost 2.2 regular jobs. In addition only one
in ten of those new jobs were permanent.
TAS: For that matter, can the White
House quantify the number of jobs saved or created by its
economic policies?
Congressman Scalise: For months the
administration and the liberals in Congress have been pushing
through a reckless big government agenda with nothing to show for
it but record deficits, debt, and job losses. The so-called
stimulus package was supposed to provide immediate help, but
unemployment numbers continue to climb and interest rates are on
the rise.
TAS: Do you believe that we are done
with the bailouts and the stimulus plans for now, or are there
more to come?
Congressman Scalise: President Obama and the
liberals in Congress need to acknowledge that the American
taxpayers are fed up with these bailouts. We need to end the
bailouts. The companies who are in trouble need to go and fix
their balance sheets by addressing their fundamental problems. I
opposed the financial bailouts last year because it wasn’t
focused on addressing the problems or resolving the issues of
mortgage backed securities and derivatives that caused the
financial industry to collapse. We still have to go and reform
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They helped create this problem by
giving loans to people that had no ability to pay and they were
encouraged by liberals in Congress like Barney Frank (D-MA) who
are working to pass some of the bailouts today.
I don’t think the federal government should own car companies, I
don’t think we should own banks. I think we need to get back to
market-based solutions to these problems. Unfortunately our
country has gone down such a road that the government is
literally trying to take over everything — and it doesn’t work.
It puts our country deeper in debt. We can’t do this to future
generations. We need to get back on a path of fiscal sanity.
TAS: In the coming debate over the
federal budget, which has passed both houses in blueprint form
largely in tune with the president’s priorities, what will be
some of the major areas of focus?
Congressman Scalise: We need to rein in reckless
spending in Washington and balance the federal budget. I voted
against the President’s budget because it is fiscally
irresponsible; spending too much money, raising taxes on all
American families, and borrowing record levels from our children
and grandchildren. While I opposed this bill, I joined with other
Members of Congress to present an alternative bill that balances
the federal budget. The alternative budget I supported would cut
wasteful spending, balance the federal budget and create good
jobs for the American people.
It took 43 Presidents and 220 years to build $10 trillion of
national debt. With just one budget, President Obama will more
than double that debt to an astounding $23 trillion. This
dangerous level of spending and borrowing will saddle future
generations with new debt for decades to come.
Even European leaders like Czech prime minister and current
European Union (EU) President Mirek Topolanek are criticizing
President Obama’s out of control spending. When European leaders
are saying that we’re spending too much, it’s like the town drunk
saying you have a drinking problem.
