Monday, November 3, 2008

Obama and Coal: Send Americans 'Price Signals' on Energy

It could have been a classic presidential debate moment, John McCain turning to Barack Obama and saying, "Isn't it true that you want Americans to pay higher energy prices?" Right in the middle of an economic downturn, that's the last thing most of us want to do. But that is exactly what Obama wants us to do.

Here is what Obama told Iowa public television last year (courtesy of Little Green Footballs): "I think it is important to send some price signals to change behavior. It's not going to be painless. Power plants are going to have to adjust how they generate power. They will pass on those costs to consumers.... A lot of us who can afford it are going to pay more for a unit of electricity; over time the electricity bill goes back down as technology catches back up."

Me: See, Obama's little-discussed cap-and-trade plan would raise costs on businesses for using energy, like the entire coal industry—and they would then pass on those costs to you and me. Those "price signals" effectively are $100 billion a year in energy taxes, which would wipe out Obama's middle-class tax cut/credit.

10 comments:

Intrade said...

Joe Neri said :

    Price signals are designed to change behavior and consumer spending. The new economic engine that Obama envisions is technological advances in energy production and distribution - a green economy, keeping jobs here and innovation high. This has positive long term effects for the economy, the environment and sustainable energy.

Get on board because this electric train is leaving the station.

Intrade said...

MTSeeker said :

    Yea sure, get on board, bend over and let Obama drive. The Obama train will pull into the station at the end of the line with the worst failed presidency in the history of our nation; Obama will make Carter look competent by comparison!

See "Hope Is A Lie: Even If Obama Believes, Truth Eludes Him" at http://mtseeker.newsvine.com/_news/2008/10/14/1989058-hope-is-a-lie-even-if-obama-believes-truth-eludes-him

Intrade said...

Keith said :

    You don't mention that McCain proposes the same Cap and Trade system as Obama. Their positions on coal are nearly identical. Though I suspect both of them would delay implementing Cap and Trade in a down ecnocomy.

Intrade said...

it's not like we didn't see this coming said :

    sorry kids, you've had decades to clean up your energy act. now it's too late to do it painlessly. suck it, pay more, reduce energy usage.

Intrade said...

DS in NJ said :

    You reference "Little Green Footballs"!! Get effing real.

Intrade said...

Dew Boy said :

    Jimmy just remember in a few days its Obama "The president". Failed policies, fictional dreams and your failed dogma helped NICELY.

Intrade said...

Florida said :

    Admit it Jimmy, you slept through Econ 101, didn't you?

Intrade said...

Damon said :

    It's important to know that MTSeeker voted for Bush 43 twice so his frame of reference for "Worst President" may be off. Excuse us MTSeeker if we don't believe anything you have to say.

Despite the scare tactics of the right, Obama will most likely govern as a centrist because 1) he remembers Clinton's first 2 yrs, 2) he's the fist Af. Am. President thus he'll have to set a precedent that is more even-handed and 3) the policy wogs won't let him stray too far to the left anyway.

Besides, since Carter, it alternates between good President and bad:

Carter: bad
Reagan: good
Bush 41: bad
Clinton: good
Bush 43: bad is an understatement
Obama based on this pattern: good.

Intrade said...

catalyzer said :

    I went to the site "Little Green Footballs". Very telling caption:
I learned that "Barack Obama advocated sending “price signals” to consumers in order to “change their behavior.” “Price signals” being an Orwellian code word for punitive taxes and fees."
"Price signals", my friend, are the concept made famous by the father of conservative economics, Milton Friedman (RIP). This was the basis of Friedman's death-blow argument against socialism and planned economies. And he argued that they should be used to control things like....pollution and emissions (instead of regulations).
So Friedman's Nobel-Prize winning conservative ideas are now reviled by Republicans. It seems the Republican party has finally completed its conversion from conservatism to the "philosophy" of "People walked with Dinosaurs-And I can see Russia!"

Intrade said...

DrWippit said :

    Carter, like Clinton and next Obama, was handed a mess. Of course Carter also had everyone working against him to make sure he got nothing done. Obama will have some help in both houses, and like Clinton will be cleaning up the disaster left after years of failed trickle down b.s. People vote Republican because they supposedly spend less, yet they always spend exponentially more on "defense", and take what they can out of education and health care. Works great doesn't it?