A Tax by Any Other Name
Nicolas Loris /
Is still a tax. This notion is especially important now as more people are beginning to recognize what a cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon dioxide actually is: a heavy tax on energy consumption. The Wall Street Journal bluntly says, “If it brings in revenue that the government then spends, it’s a tax, and politicians should start referring to it as such.” And the revenue will be quite large; if enacted a cap-and-trade program will generate enough revenue to become the sixth largest source of federal receipts by 2019.
In his speech last week he claimed, “If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. Not one single dime.”
But Obama forgot to throw in the caveat, “unless you use energy.” Before Obama was elected, when discussing the intentions of his cap-and-trade policy (see the 32-second mark of this video), he acknowledges that “electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket.” That’s a tax on your electricity bill, plain and simple.