CHICAGO — If you’re wondering why Democrats are pushing so hard for the cap-and-trade energy tax now en route to the Senate after perfunctory House approval, look no further than that cynical Washington mix — political and corporate greed.
For the Obama-Reid-Pelosi Democrats, it's more tax dollars to fund their takeover of selected industries.
For big business, it is the massive profits from selling carbon credits, the price of which will simply be added to your heating and gasoline bills as well as the price of all other goods and services.
To push cap-and-trade legislation through Congress, major corporations with mammoth self-interests have joined with environmental fringe groups to form the high-powered lobbying organization — United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP).
The members of USCAP read like a Who’s Who of American business, but sadly they are all too willing to genuflect before the lure of corporate welfare.
They include Alcoa, American International Group (AIG) which withdrew after accepting government bailout money, Boston Scientific Corporation, BP America Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Chrysler LLC (which continues to lobby with taxpayer dollars), ConocoPhillips, Deere & Company, The Dow Chemical Company, Duke Energy, DuPont, Environmental Defense, Exelon Corporation, Ford Motor Company, FPL Group, Inc., General Electric, General Motors Corp (now owned by the Obama administration), Johnson & Johnson, Marsh, Inc., National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, NRG Energy, Inc., Pepsico, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, PG&E Corporation, PNM Resources, Rio Tinto, Shell, Siemens Corporation, World Resources Institute, Xerox Corporation.
It should be duly noted that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — and almost all of the 3-million American businesses it represents — staunchly oppose cap-and-trade legislation.
Comment 1: So much for the myth that Democrats give a rat's behind for the little guy. They're all about money and power.
Comment 2: So much for the myth that environmentalists give a similar portion of a rat's anatomy for the environment. They are all about money and power.
Comment 3: Both the Democrats and their leftwing allies are more than happy to work behind the scenes with the "Big Business" they publicly vilify if it advances their quest for money and power at the expense of the little guy.
Comment 4: Concerned Americans should considered boycotting corporations who pad bottom lines by turning their back on the overall interests of the U.S. economy. And they should bombard those corporations and their local newspapers with letters protesting such cavalierly anti-American policies.
Tom Randall is a senior partner with the political consulting company, Winningreen LLC, based in Chicago. A graduate of Michigan State University, he served as national advertising manager for Sears, Roebuck and Co. before starting his own advertising agency in 1984. More recently, he was managing editor of Environment and Climate News, a publication of the Heartland Institute. Readers may visit
Winningreen’s website and e-mail Randall at
trandall@winningreen.com
