Waxman-Markey’s chances in the Senate

1. Every politician has his price and the Obama administration is printing money like there's no tomorrow.
2. Likely Senate supporters include the 57 Senate Democrats (Al Franken included),  Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Joe Lieberman (I-CT),  Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME). Those 61 votes are  enough to avoid filibuster and pass a bill. Because of #1, above, don't expect many Democrat defections. Because of #3, below, do expect some Republicans to defect. The 2010 elections threaten no one -- they are too far away and, in this catastrophe-a-day-world, everyone will forget about Waxman-Markey, especially since its pain doesn't set in until 2012 or later.
3. Senate Republicans ill-informed, inarticulate, dispirited and disorganized. They inspire little no confidence.
4. Al Gore, greens and corporate rent-seekers will pull out all the stops as their dreams of a green corporate welfare state are actually within grasp.
5. Businesses that aren't lobbying for a climate bill are divided, dazed and confused. To the extent that they are spending their precious few resources to fight climate regulation, it has been on so-far-useless coalitions.
6. Skeptics are outmanned, outgunned and shunned by the businesses described in #5, above.
7. Obama will use health care, immigration and other emerging/existing policy issues to distract opponents and entice supporters.
8. The mainstream media is unabashedly shilling for Waxman-Markey (or a worse bill) while skeptic-friendly outlets are overwhelmed and distracted with the depth and breadth of the Obama administration's assault on America.
9. The Democrats are ready to pull any trick to win -- witness the surprise addition of a 300-page "manager's amendment" to the Waxman-Markey bill at 3am on the day of the vote. Boehner's heroics aside, Republicans should have tossed House rules aside and screamed bloody murder to prevent a vote. While the Republicans play by Marquess of Queensbury rules, Henry Waxman and the Democrats are busy sticking shivs into them.
10. Taxpayers and consumers are way under-represented in Washington, DC, especially when compared to the global warming lobby. They also fail to understand that Waxman-Markey is no mere energy tax -- it's a frontal assault on the American way of life.

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