I can only tell you that I am not sure which is worse the Cap and Trade Bill or Health Care Reform. So I keep trying to convince you of the evils in both of them. BB
Subject: LICENSE REQUIRED FOR YOUR HOUSE
This is unbelievable!
Only the beginning from this administration!
Home owners take note & tell your friends and relatives who are home owners!
Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won’t be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act.
H.R. 2454, the “Cap & Trade” bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced. The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year. No one is excluded. However, once the lower classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure these voters get a tax refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost.
Thus, you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America will have to pay even more since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out everyone else.
But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has actually read) has many more surprises in it.
Probably the worst one is this: A year from now you won’t be able to sell your house.
Yes, you read that right. The caveat is (there always is a caveat) that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes (“mobile homes”) are included.
In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator.
To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured. Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements.
Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a “label” in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air
conditioner. If you don’t get a high enough rating, you can’t sell.
And, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act.The EPA administrator, appointed by the President, will run the Cap & Trade program (AKA the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of
2009″) and is authorized to make any future changes to the regulations and standards he alone determines to be in the government’s best interest. Requirements are set low initially so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new standards every year. The Act itself contains annual
required increases in energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings. However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any time.
Sect. 202 Building Retrofit Program mandates a national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing homes across America . Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you
won’t be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. You had better sell soon, because the standards will be raised each year and
will be really hard (i.e., ex$pen$ive) to meet in a few years. Oh, goody! The Act allows the government to give you a grant of several thousand dollars to comply with the retrofit program requirements if
you meet certain energy efficiency levels. But, wait, the State can set additional requirements on who qualifies to receive the grants.
You should expect requirements such as “can’t have an income of more than $50K per year”, “home selling price can’t be more than $125K”, or anything else to target the upper middle class (and that’s YOU)
and prevent them from qualifying for the grants. Most of us won’t get a dime and will have to pay the entire cost of the retrofit out of our own pockets. More transfer of wealth, more “change you can
believe in.”
Sect. 204 Building Energy Performance Labeling Program establishes a labeling program that for each individual residence will identify the achieved energy efficiency performance for “at least 90 percent
of the residential market within 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.” This means that within 5 years 90% of all residential homes in the U.S. must be measured and labeled. The EPA administrator will get $50M each year to enforce the labeling
program. The Secretary of the Department of Energy will get an additional $20M each year to help enforce the labeling program. Some of this money will, of course, be spent on coming up with tougher
standards each year. Oh, the label will be like a license for your car. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having this label. And, just like your car license, you
will probably be required to get a new label every so often – maybe every year. But, the government estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only cost about $200 each
time. Remember what they said about the auto smog inspections when they first started: that in California it would only cost $15.
That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50 for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from the home labeling program.Sect. 304 Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes establishes new energy efficiency guidelines for the National Building Code and mandates at 304(d) that 1 year after enactment of this Act, all state and local jurisdictions must adopt the National Building Code
energy efficiency provisions or must obtain a certification from the federal government that their state and/or local codes have been brought into full compliance with the National Building Code energy
efficiency standards.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/14/AR2009101404054_pf.html
Cap-and-Trade Would Slow Economy, CBO Chief Says
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A House-passed bill that targets climate change through a cap-and-trade system of pollution credits would slow the nation’s economic growth slightly over the next few decades and would create “significant” job losses from fossil fuel industries as the country shifts to renewable energy, the head of the Congressional Budget Office told a Senate energy panel Wednesday.
CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf emphasized that his estimates contained significant uncertainties and “do not include any benefits from averting climate change,” but his message nevertheless contrasted sharply with those of President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders, who have suggested that a cap on carbon emissions would help revive the U.S. economy.
Elmendorf testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that the cap-and-trade provisions of the House bill — in which emitters of greenhouse gases would be able to buy and sell pollution credits — would cut the nation’s gross domestic product by 0.25 to 0.75 percent in 2020 compared with “what it would otherwise have been,” and by 1 to 3.5 percent in 2050.
Elmendorf also pointed to disruptions that would occur as Americans sought employment with industries that would benefit under a carbon cap, such as solar and wind power.
“The shifts will be significant,” the CBO director said. “We want to leave no misunderstanding that aggregate performance — the fact that jobs turn up somewhere else for some people — does not mean that there are not substantial costs borne by people, communities, firms in affected industries and affected areas. You saw that in manufacturing, and we would see that in response to changes that this legislation would produce.”
Opponents of climate-change legislation seized on Elmendorf’s comments, suggesting they meant the United States would be better off not curbing greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who described himself as “a skeptic” on the issue, detailed how Kansans would likely face higher energy prices under a cap-and-trade system.
“Because while we’re projecting these things, people are having to deal with their basic lives on it, and this is going to be very expensive,” Brownback said.
But Elmendorf, who called the economic downside to the House climate bill “comparatively modest,” noted that climate change could impose costs on Brownback’s home state in other ways, by harming agriculture.
In light of those potential risks, the CBO director said, “many economists believe that the right response to that kind of uncertainty is to take out some insurance, if you will, against some of the worst outcomes.”
Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-author of the House bill with Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), said that several independent analyses, including one by the CBO, had found their bill “would only cost about a postage stamp a day, and that’s before you include thousands of dollars in savings from energy-efficiency gains. The harsh reality is that America’s global warming and energy challenges are just too important for us to keep mailing it in by not enacting a comprehensive energy and global warming bill.”
Daniel J. Weiss, a senior fellow at the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, pointed to a University of Massachusetts at Amherst study that concluded that the House bill would add jobs to the overall U.S. economy.
“We estimate this sustained expansion in clean-energy investments triggered by the economic stimulus program, and the forthcoming American Clean Energy and Security Act, can generate a net increase of about 1.7 million jobs,” Weiss said.
For more coverage of climate-change legislation and related issues, go to http://washingtonpost.com/climate.
Hasn’t yet been passed by the Senate and we had better hope it isn’t. this bill is the first step to Obama’s Global Poverty Act which would allow the United Nations to tax Americans and give the money to poorer countries. That is a tax on top of all that are we can now “see” in the bill. BB
Hey, I want to be the inspector in the DC area, let me know when the hiring begins. Meanwhile I will live in my Beverly Hillbillys house. C’mon
These bastards should all be arrested. They can be jailed at Al Gore’s house till FEMA gets a good camp for them. It’s just another way for them to put their hands in your pockets. Get a job, give the Globalists all your money and your children and maybe they’ll let you live if they think they need you. Otherwise, get ready to line up for your pig flu jab that will sterilize you, destroy your immune system so you will need their drugs to stay alive, and make you docile and controllable. Don’t forget to take your flouride too. Don’t want to wake up from the trance.
Booter and Margie, Thank you both for coming by.
Reading so much every day as I do in an effort to keep up with what is happening to our nation sometimes makes me want to sit down and cry. We are being bombarded from every angle and seemingly for every aspect of our lives. Today’s posts had to do with the government employees unions and how they are now taking over all of our governments from local to state and of course national. These unions are controlled by the American Mafia bosses. The biggest one, the SEIU Service Employees International Union is the one to which government employees belong and the head is Andy Stern an avowed Marxist and the Presidents buddy with 22 visits to the White House in 10 months. Can you just imagine our lives when these government employees decide they want a raise or better benefits and go out on strike when they don’t get what they ask for? Think about how much of your life is dependent on some government service from your water and garbage pickup to your streets and highways to the police forces.
Oh well, all I know is that we the people have a real fight on our hands trying to clean up the corruption that is now our governments (plural!). We need honest and decent elected officials because they are the only ones who can pass the laws to curb what is happening and as of now the elected officials we have are part of the problem. It is my hope that enough of us will become angry as you two obviously are and will succeed in scaring the elected ones into doing what is right if they want to keep their seats. Politicians may very well play for and to the money, but money does not vote. We the people vote and with enough of us angry we can turn the tide.
If you haven’t been emailing, writing, phoning and faxing your congressmen then please you must start. You may also go on line and try to find an organization to join in your area where you can get involved on a local level with the protests for decent government.
Good luck. BB
It is unfortunate that this alarmist nonsense is getting such wide circulation as it is patently false.
There is nothing in the bill that would prevent you from selling your home without retrofitting. The retrofit provisions make funds available to assist you in doing so if you wish. The labeling provisions have nothing to do with licensing. They are designed to promote awareness of the energy efficiency of a property to owners, sellers, buyers and mortgagees, and, when aggregated for all properties to provide a statistical measure of the effectiveness of the program.
The author neglects to mention that the estimated $200 cost of the energy assessment of a residence is paid out of funds allocated for the purpose, not by the homeowner, and the claim that the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost per family of four at $6800 is bunk. In fact, CBO estimates the cost per housing unit of the entire cap and trade program to be about $175 per year in increased energy costs.
It is true that the cost of building a new home is likely to increase a bit because the National Building Code, adopted by the states, will require more energy efficiency, but these costs will be offset over time in fuel savings.
So put away your marching shoes and protest signs, folks. This is just another pile of misinformation circulated to get you riled up.
Thank you for stopping by looseshoes. Now perhaps you can tell me just where the government is going to get these funds you say are “allocated”. Are you one of those who have no idea where the money comes from like those folks in Detroit who were lining up to get their “Obama money”. One dear soul thought that the money came from Obama’s “stash” .
The purpose of this post is to show just how much the federal government under Obama and Congressional fanatics is trying to intrude into our lives in every possible way they can. We are to be virtual slaves to the government
bureaucracy. I is you who needs to wake up, learn what is really happening and perhaps pick up a sign.
But hey, come by any time as your comments just prove how right Barnum was.
There’s a sucker born every minute. P.T. Barnum
Its quite true there’s a fool born every minute. It’s also quite true they don’t die that fast. Source Unknown (this is of course so unfortunate! BB)
Question for Looseshoes ;
Do you believe the Federal Reserve should be audited , when it has the power and persuasion over the use of money that directly or indirectly effects the debt structure of the economy and its ability to transpose these liabilities onto the backs of the American people with the Influence of internationalists that dabble in international markets and receive bailout funds guaranteed by US taxpayers ??????
There are reports that suggest parts of the TRAP monies that were released form the FED after Congress approved the funds were paid to Treasury that then went to banks that received bailout monies to shore up positions held by foreign investor groups , all at US taxpayer expense , and we the people did not have a say so in this use of funds , do you believe thats appropriate and don’t you think this warrants a need for transparency and that an audit would give us clarity to move forward with ???
Looseshoes if we do nothing to understand the direction of funds in this economic collapse , and how we are bailout the path of risk that was taken and continue to cover up and bailout the top echelons of the international investor elites , all because of a view that the Independence of the Federal Reserve is a constant that needs to be maintained , but at a time of crisis it can come in and bailout risk takers at US taxpayer expense is a Obscene gesture , to say the least , and will continue if we do not have clarity to understand the risks takers ways of missing and obscuring key data that leads to a lack of oversight , and over use of funds in directions that under normal scrutiny would alter the use of funds if complete and accurate data is understood better in the general forum of public economic indicators ???
This is where we tend to miss the indicators that are telling us when a market is becoming over heated with the uses of credit , and the very thing that the Federal Reserve says its Independence helps to withstand from Political pressures of usages of credit in populous venues , is exactly what happened over this past boom and bust cycle , so it would appear that the idea of transparency needs a good test by an occasional independent audit of the Federal Reserve so that markets don’t have to rely on naked shorts signaling overages in credit in key areas of the markets , this coming at a point in time that useally is to late to alter the level of toxin asset build up that then leads to the kind of volatility in markets and balance sheets as the charge offs from devaluing assets fluctuates with the issues of public intervention in cases like these bailouts , that send values plummeting and creates such times of instability in markets .
It would seem to me that a little transparency would go a long way in dealing with over uses of credit , even in the designs of a Cap and trade bill that could wreak credit and capital havoc if this type of misuse of funds are created again through a lack of transparency from the ” Originator of funding for such programs in the first place !!!!!!!!!!!!
Audits would clear the complexity of this issue so we can have a better chance at maintaining stability in credit and equity markets .
Thank you Hungry. Rep. Ron Paul has introduced a bill to do away with the Federal Reserve and bring the printing and valuation of the dollar back under Congress as the Constitution decrees.
The Federal reserves is a private company that has total control of our currency and sets the interest rate it will lend this currency to banks who in turn loan to people. Where does the Federal Reserve get its currency to lend? It has a printing press! Is the currency backed by anything substantial? NO! It was backed by gold but congress took our currency off the gold standard so now the only thing backing our dollar is the promise of the US government that it is good for the value of the dollar at any given moment. The private Federal Reserve company prints the money and your tax dollars, or now what we can borrow from China, backs these essentially counterfeit dollars up.