Posted by
The Hermit Crab on Sunday, June 28, 2009 1:28:36 PM
The passing of the cap-and-tax bill (Waxman-Markey, text available
here) by the House on Friday brings us a long step nearer to a catastrophe. If you oppose this bill, which will cause a huge increase in energy costs and strangle economic growth for years, if not decades, you have to use the one weapon we have against misbehaving legislators -- your vote.
That's what's been missing in the many online petitions and site-generated e-mails we've been signing for the last few weeks. Many of these present logical scientific and economic arguments against the proposal, all of them ignored by too many congressmen. We have forgotten the old truism -- "A politician is a hog! You cannot reason with him; you can only hit him on the snout with a stick!" Many of the "yea" votes are no doubt raking in donations from environmentalist groups and others who would profit if the bill becomes a law. We cannot hope to compete with them in cash donations, but there is one thing we can do. We can out-vote them.
Most politicians place their own re-election above all other goals. Write to your senators. Tell them that if they vote for Waxman-Markey, you will never vote for them in any election ever again. Tell them you will support their opponents in all elections, primary and general. Tell them that no matter how much money they collect from special interest groups, you will not be swayed from your opposition. Tell them you will support their opponents financially -- whether you can afford to or not.
(I would like to caution New York residents about the responses you may receive from your senators. From responses I have received on other matters, I have discovered that Kirsten Gillibrand will lie to you about the contents of bills, and that Charles Schumer will lie to you about the fate of proposed amendments. He will tell you that amendments were proposed, but he won't tell you that they were defeated. Don't trust - verify!)
Next, contact your House member. If they voted against this bill, commend them, and ask them to stand fast if a conference-committee version of the bill returns to the House for another vote. If they voted wrongly, follow the procedure outlined above. Tell them you will only consider them in the future if they vote to kill this job-killer at the earliest opportunity. Ask them to move to reconsider -- they are allowed to do that if they voted "yea" the first time. Do not let their treachery be forgotten!
Remember the words of William Randolph Hearst: "
A politician will do anything to keep his job, even become a patriot." (Hat tip to
BrainyQuote.com)
This fight isn't over, and we can't afford to lose it. We must act now.