Obama/Himes Carbon Tax Bill goodies

BusinessInsider has some highlights of last minute boondoggles slipped into the Carbon Tax Bill. My favorite?

East Coast Reps that were nervous about losing jobs to the midwest made it more difficult for power transmission lines to be installed anywhere but west of the Rockies.

Remember, Himes’s staff insists that he read every word of the 1300 page document before voting for it, so next time he shows up in town to discuss his job performance, it would nice to hear him explain this.

Obama – Here’s a novel idea: raise taxes on the rich

I applaud the man for wanting to reduce our deficit but I’d have more hope for our future if he proposed cutting spending, rather than increasing spending and taxing hedge fund profits. What happens, by the way, if there are no hedge fund profits to tax? And here’s an interesting concession to reality:

Mr. Obama will also call for letting the Bush tax cuts on income, dividends and capital gains lapse after 2010 for individuals who make more than $250,000 a year. As a candidate, Mr. Obama called for immediately repealing those tax cuts; he decided instead to keep them in place through 2010, as scheduled, reflecting the widespread belief that raising taxes further depresses economic activity.

Raising taxes depresses economic activity? Who’d ever have believed it. But if I understand the Obama plan correctly, he’s going to impose a massive increase in spending on health care, bring back welfare to its bloated, pre-Clinton days, do nothing about social security and slam us with an energy “policy” that will triple its cost. He does all that, plus raises taxes to further kill the economy and again I ask, who pays, if there’s nothing to tax?