On a hot, 97-degree afternoon, almost 50 Modern Day Patriots from the Kansas City Tea Party met yesterday near the Johnson County Courthouse to protest the increased taxes, loss of jobs, and increased regulations in the “Cap and Trade” bill passed by the U.S. House on Friday.
Why would concerned citizens spend their weekend in hot weather to protest this action by the U.S. House on Friday?
One reason was Congressman Dennis Moore.
Congressman Dennis Moore (D-Kansas) ignored many requests to vote against higher taxes and more mandated regulations in the Cap and Trade bill. Somehow Congressman Moore thinks higher taxes in slow economic times will be welcome, as well as additional burdensome regulations, like paying for an energy rating assessment for your house before you can sell it.
The debate in the U.S. House on Friday, which could be viewed on C-SPAN, was very revealing. Congressman Moore appeared on C-SPAN for his rallying speech for the Cap and Trade bill about 3:30 PM.
Moore showed no concern about the 300 pages of amendments added to the Bill in the middle of the night. Several speakers before Moore made parliamentary inquires about how legitimate the vote on the bill was when there was no copy of the bill that anyone in Congress could read. There was no copy of the bill with the 300 pages of amendments included for anyone to read. One Democrat suggested that Republicans could read the 300 pages of amendments from the House cloakroom, where there was Internet access. Republicans had complained that was not possible to view the changes from the House floor. How much of the bill did Congressman Moore read? Did he read the 300 pages of changes integrated into the original 1100 page bill before he voted?
Apparently Congressman Moore supports increased taxes, the loss of jobs, and the loss of individual freedom that will be caused by the bill. Congressman Moore is telling citizens that he and members of Congress know better how to run everyone’s life. Moore’s response to phone calls and E-mails form many concerned citizens in recent months is simply to ignore them.
What else happened in the U.S. House on Friday?
Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-Minnesota):
“We know Madam Speaker that this National Energy tax will cost the American people $2 trillion. We know that. We know this will result in a loss of 2.5 million jobs every year for the American people. We know that. We know this will result in a reduced standard of living for Americans. We know that. What is the point and what is the benefit?”
“What is worse than this is the fact that now, because of this underlying bill, the federal government will virtually have control over every aspect of lives of the American people. It is time to stand up and say ‘we get to choose.’ We choose liberty or we choose tyranny. It’s one or the two. The underlying bill represents the tyranny and the intervention of the federal government.”
“It’s our choice: What will we choose today? Will we choose liberty? Or, will we choose tyranny?”
See the video yourself:
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) used a “mini-filibuster” to object to the 300-page middle-of-night amendment to the bill:
“The house is going to spend a whopping five hours debating the most profound piece of legislation to come to this floor in a hundred years. And the chairman has the audacity to drop a 300+ page amendment in the hopper at 3:09 AM this morning.”
“And so I would ask my colleagues: Don’t you think the American people expect us to understand what’s in this bill before we vote on it? “
“And so we get to page 34 …”
See the video yourself:
Boehner spent about an hour reading excerpts from the 300+ page amendment asking how much some items were going to cost, and how many jobs would be created by others? Otherwise, Democrats blocked all discussion about the middle-of-night changes. Why? How is that responsible government?
What issues was Boehner discussing in the 300+ pages of amendments? One example was regarding the imposition of “California standards” on the entire U.S. housing construction. Boehner asked who would pay for imposing those standards? Boehner asked about the mandated energy inspections of houses before they are sold. How will such new regulations help a housing market get rejuvenated in these slow economic times?
Many Americans are scared about the increased taxes and new regulations imposed by Congress. The government is running private sector businesses (like the car and banking industry), and now introducing new restrictions and rules on normal citizens.
Many believe that Congress is out-of-touch, and out-of-control, especially when no one in the Congress is reading the bills that are being passed, discussion about the bills is restricted, and there is no time for public comments before a bill is passed. This is governmental transparency?
The arrogance of Congress should not be tolerated by a free people. Why aren’t more protesting the out-of-control government we have?
See how your member of Congress voted on the Cap and Trade bill.
Related:
- Boehner’s Amazing Speech on the House Floor Friday, NewBusters, June 27, 2009.
- Johnson County, KS Cap And Tax Protest, Nice Deb, June 27, 2009.
- 300 Pages Out of Thin Air, Sunlight Foundation, June 26, 2009.
- Who pays for Cap and Trade?, The Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2009.
- Cap and Trade Global Warming Bill, The Heritage Foundation.
- Cap and Trade, US Environmental Protection Agency.
- Kansas Tea Parties, Kansas Meadowlark, April 15, 2009.
- Tea Party in Olathe today, Kansas Meadowlark, March 7, 2009.
- “Tea Party” Rally and March in Snow to Senator McCaskill’s Office in Kansas City, Kansas Meadowlark, Feb 28, 2009.
- Sign Photo Essay of Kansas City “Tea Party” and March, Kansas Meadowlark, Feb 28, 2009.
- Poster Child: “Thanks for Putting My Generation in DEBT!”, Kansas Meadowlark, Feb 23, 2009.
Tags: Cap and Trade, energy taxes, increased regulations, job losses, John Boehner, Kansas City Tea Party, Michelle Bachmann, Modern Day Patriots, Protest
First of all, Kudos to John Boehner.
It’s time for Dennis Moore to go, Kansans deserve someone who cares about their constituents. Education in the key, we must educate the uneducated, it’s amazing how many people I’ve spoken with that do not have a clue as to whats is going on in our world today.
“Knowledge is Power”
Kansans must hold more of the Cap and Trade Rally’s, hopefully other cities and states will do the same.