The American Spectator : Markey's Moment

Text Size

Markey's Moment

By John Carlisle on 7.6.09 @ 6:08AM

Congressman resorts to witness intimidation to silence critics of cap-and-trade bill.

(Page 2 of 2)

The same day that Markey apologized to Sokol, Barton and 19 other Republicans sent a letter to Markey and Henry Waxman (D-CA), the chairman of the Energy Committee, stating that such intimidation was unacceptable. "If a pattern of intimidation and bullying is being created by the majority party it is a sad thing," the letter said. "As members of the minority party we will do everything possible to stop this emerging pattern." They demanded that Waxman "take whatever actions necessary to make sure that witnesses are not subjected to sanction, retribution and vengeance simply because the facts and opinions they offer do not square with those of the Committee's members."

The Republican letter also cited an incident in which staff for Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) warned Democratic lobbyists not to let their clients meet with Republicans about health care legislation.

A spokesman for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said, "This is another indication that Democrats on Capitol Hill are creating a culture of intimidation to pass bills that are unpopular with the American people."

Markey claims that there was no effort being made to intimidate witnesses hostile to his cap-and-trade bill and publicly apologized at a June 12 subcommittee hearing. "I would never seek to intimidate or retaliate against a person from having to come in and having to testify before this subcommittee."

However, Republicans were not satisfied with Markey's "mea culpa." GOP lawmakers are mulling over the option of charging Markey with violating House ethics rules for "intimidating a witness." Republicans said they would try to avoid calling for an ethics investigation if Democrats were able to satisfy the concerns they laid out in their letter to Markey and Waxman. Republicans are requesting a meeting with Waxman to air their grievances. If Waxman agrees to the meeting and Republicans still aren't satisfied, then they may file an ethics complaint.

The heavy-handed tactics used by Markey and other advocates for the cap-and-trade bill showed just how desperate they were in the closing stretch of the House debate. The Waxman-Markey bill would drastically increase what Americans pay for electricity, gas and other energy-intensive products and services. The more that fact is revealed, the more unpopular the legislation will be. And it is not just Republicans. At least 50 House Democrats representing districts with substantial agricultural, rural and manufacturing refused to commit to supporting the legislation down to the final week before the vote. In the end, 44 Democrats voted against the Waxman-Markey national energy tax.

While the House vote represents a victory, it was so narrow that Obama and the Democratic congressional leadership do not have time to rejoice. There is every indication that the Senate battle over cap-and-trade, expected to take place in the fall, will be even more brutal.

Given public distrust and congressional discomfort over the political implications of Waxman-Markey's tax increases, the only way its backers can seem to build support is through bribery or intimidation.

Page: < 12

topics:
Cap and Trade, Political Intimidation

About the Author

John Carlisle is director of policy at the National Legal and Policy Center, a nonprofit foundation based in Falls Church, Virginia.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (24) | Leave a comment

drudge ette obama| 7.6.09 @ 6:48AM

$120 a month increase in your electric bill. That will kill the bill - if people are informed about it.

That's the real message here. It's not news that politicians abuse power. Do we really expect the Democrats will sanction Markey? It's not in their self-interests.

Opponents of this bizarre tax on the lifeblood of this country's success - energy - must focus on the $120/month.

Rocco| 7.6.09 @ 6:53AM

True, Drudgette. But the question here is, where are all of the Republicans on all of this? Why are all of them so silent, and why do they roll over with this kind of intimidation going on? When all of them speak, the media is hard pressed not to ignore them.

Big J| 7.6.09 @ 7:03AM

We are being ruled by mob-like tyrants. In addition to the intimidation tactics, there are smoke-filled back room bribes going on at three o'clock in the morning. It's absolutely surreal.

These crooks need to be exposed for the bullies that they are and jailed.

drudge ette obama| 7.6.09 @ 7:08AM

Rocco, I don't know where they are. Maybe they aren't anywhere. Maybe they never were.

JP| 7.6.09 @ 7:36AM

"True, Drudgette. But the question here is, where are all of the Republicans on all of this? Why are all of them so silent, and why do they roll over with this kind of intimidation going on?"

One would have to think that many in the GOP have no problem with Waxman Markey.

BTW, the June UAH satellite derived global temps indicate that the globe was 01. deg C cooler than the 30 year (1979-2009) average. The Tropics had the most cooling, averaging a full quarter degree cooler than the 30 year running mean.

Melvin| 7.6.09 @ 7:54AM

Oi vey, It is as if we are all passengers on a runway train that is picking up speed as it sails down the track and non of our elected representatives want or have the will to apply the brake.
$120 increase of our elected bills, I have that nagging feeling that the number is extremely conservative and the increase will unfortunately be much more.
NC passed it's version of Cap and Trade in 2007 and the citizens of NC have seen our electric bills rise as the government mandates are phased in as to not cause an outcry from the masses.
This is my opinion on the situation. The powers that be in Washington D.C. fully realize that the massive spending that they have voted on, is going to take a equally massive new revenue stream to fund their lust for new government programs.
This might have something to do with the deafening Republican silence. Frankly put, the Republicans have been bought off, and unfortunately for us they have been bought off at bargain basement prices.
To conceptualize this is almost impossible. Any one of us would not in our wildest dreams even begin to think that the individuals that are sent to Washington D.C. would even begin to think of creating let alone instituting that largest tax burden in American history.
And the disheartening part to all this is... The bureacrats have only just begun.

KyMouse| 7.6.09 @ 8:12AM

An increase in utility bills of anywhere near $120 per month would be an unbearable burden for many families, but I suppose the poorest families will get government assistance to pay for it. The Democrats won't want to appear to be hard on the poor. Those of us who are middle class (or lower-middle class) will be stuck -- or shafted, I guess I should say.

I'm all for tea parties, but they seem to be mostly a way to let off steam. What can we really do to stop all of this? The 2010 elections are so far off. I write and phone my legislators and get nice letters in reply, but the juggernaut just keeps rolling along. When should I light my torch and sharpen my pitchfork?

Curly Smith| 7.6.09 @ 8:30AM

Where are the Republicans? Why they're in the Green Room with "Capn Trade" McCain:

McCain Pushes 'Cap-And-Trade' Plan to Fight Global Warming
GOP candidate promotes working with Europe on climate change, but only wants to 'encourage' involvement of 'rest of the world.'

By Dan Gainor
The Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow
Business & Media Institute
3/19/2008 1:40:08 PM

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain is using the idea of global togetherness to promote “a cap-and-trade system” to battle climate change. He said “Americans and Europeans need to get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years or we will hand over a much-diminished world to our grandchildren.” from: http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2008/20080319133739.aspx

The above is just one of multitudes of stories on McCain's idiocy. Of course, McCain opposes Obama's "Cap and Trade" scheme... or does he?

Melvin| 7.6.09 @ 8:36AM

KyMouse sharpening your pitchfork would one violate OSHA workplace safety rules and or be considered a weapon of mass destruction, and the lighting the torch would unfortunately for you a fine would be assessed for exceeding your carbon emission quota by the sake of having a torch that was fueled by a petroleum based product.
Oh, excuse me, I almost forgot you would be also assessed additional fine for not having the proper permit to attend a gathering of more than five people who intend to utilize a flame emitting device in a public forum.
Ahh, the joys of dissension as long as you pay for the proper permits.

Big J| 7.6.09 @ 8:40AM

KyMouse,

Pitchforks are for shoveling hay. I recommend a nice sub-compact KelTec 380 with power-ball hollow points.

Just sayin'.

;)

KyMouse| 7.6.09 @ 9:19AM

Cool, Big J! I enjoy target shooting, but I use a cousin's guns (he's a deputy sheriff, so he's got some nice ones). I don't one any myself, because I've had a history of sleepwalking. Bummer.

KyMouse| 7.6.09 @ 9:20AM

Make that "own" not "one"

Louis Jenkins| 7.6.09 @ 9:57AM

Wow!! Those guys in the District of Criminals. Gotta love ‘em. They know how to get things done in a hurry. Can’t waste time being on the up and up, afterall, they’ve got taxpayers to rape, wallets to filtch, and an economy that needs killin’. This cap ‘em and trade ‘em is good for the environment, so everyone, except the thieves in the District of Criminals, has to give up somethin’. You’re supposed to do like any sexual assault victim!! Relax and enjoy it! Right?

Dagny Taggert| 7.6.09 @ 10:31AM

Up here in Mass, I've been a witness to Markey's antics for years. This numb-nut can't get in front of the imaginary crisis of the day fast enough. His knee-jerk reaction to the "mutual fund day-trading scandal" was because a couple guys here in Boston were the first to be investigated for this trading loophole. Markey lead the charge (despite the net effect on the average shareholder being literally pennies for every $100 invested) as a bogus champion of the people.

What was the result of this "hard-charging" attack on the financial services industry? Brokers now have more mutual fund paperwork to fill out every time a fund is bought or swapped than ever before. Believe it or not, there is more paperwork involved in simply buying a mutual fund than there is in buying (much, much riskier) options.

Thank you Mr. "miss-the-Markey." You were able to posture yourself as a leader for a bogus reform--and the net effect was nada.

We see you up to your old tricks--posturing yourself as a bold leader in the war on climate change--a stupid law with a net effect on climate change of zero, but a much bigger price to America than some annoying paperwork.

J.C.Eaton| 7.6.09 @ 11:00AM

Reading the article and the Republicans faux furious response to Markey's shennanigans, I was reminded of those thrilling days of a long-ago yesteryear, when genuinely vexed congressmen took to their wretched opponents and put the cane to them. A series of short, hammer-like blows, delivered from varying degrees and angles, whose primary object would be to cripple and maim, not to kill, would serve right, legislative vermin like Markey, Frank, and Waxman. Sure, the striker would probably be criticised, censored, maybe even ejected from the House, but what a radiant moment.

bullwhacker| 7.6.09 @ 12:08PM

Intimidation and extortion are the main goals of cap & trade. The power to tax and spend and break your opponents knee caps. Great sport if you're a democrat.

Roy| 7.6.09 @ 1:49PM

Yeah, I don't believe any numbers about cost, either.

The Democrats' primary goal with this bill is the destruction of energy freedom. Right now in theory you have the ability to change electric companies; in practice this involves moving, but still. Electric companies cannot endlessly raise your bills without limit, because you have SOME recourse. The goal is to eliminate that. THEN they'll tighten the screws.

Even if they never planned to lower the cap at all, right off the bat this is a protection racket, granting emissions permits to existing companies and forcing potential competitors to buy from them.

Jack| 7.6.09 @ 2:30PM

Wow, $120 is only a small part of your utility bill rate increase. Consider the effect on other energy sources; gasoline, natural gas and propane will all increase. The electrically powered auto, food processing and manufacturing sector's energy prices will go up dramatically imapacting the costs of their energy cost increases.
Best estimates after considering all impacts was between $2,200-3,000 per year in early years moving up to $4-5,000 in the later years.
How will the poor pay for this? More taxes on the rich-er households making $50,000 and more.

Marc Jeric| 7.6.09 @ 7:37PM

Mistake - don't argue the cost! That is the loser when 50% of population is on the dole. Globaloney cooling scam in the 1970's; globaloney warming hoax in the 1990's; climate change flimflam in the 2000's. The science is the answer - we have to demask those monsters Waxman, Markey, Gore. Eco-nazis are the propagators of their cult of death; the world population of 6 billion must be reduced to the "sustainable" one billion.

Missy| 7.6.09 @ 10:34PM

Democrat Culture of Death strikes again.

$120.00 increase a month? BS.

Brian| 7.7.09 @ 3:49AM

I'm shocked, shocked there is intimidation going on in Washington. I thought corporations funded leftist groups out of the goodness of their hearts.

Richard Baker| 7.7.09 @ 8:30AM

Looks as if the few remaining Americans will have to use the Washington Tyrant Removal method to clean out Foggy Bottom. Can't happen soon enough, if the country is to remain.

whyyeseyec| 7.7.09 @ 5:33PM

Go ahead and increase my electric bill as much as you want. I will pay the same amount each month regardless. People will not be able to afford large bills each month anyway.
Electric bills will become like credit cards. Pay the minimum each month and let the rest ride. When the card gets maxed out ask the government for a bailout or forgiveness of the charges......