Jack Kingston

Today, Speaker Pelosi’s plan to implement a national energy tax is set to be on the House floor. The plan would place a devastating tax on all Americans known as “Cap and Tax” with the intent to reduce America’s carbon emission levels in 2050 to the level emitted in 1910.  That’s no easy task when you consider that the population of the United States in 1910 was just 92 million people compared to an estimated 420 million in 2050. 

Join more than 130,000 Americans who have signed the petition asking that Congress reject any and all legislation (or regulatory action by the EPA) that would enact new energy taxes and/or establish a national cap and trade system for carbon dioxide that would, as President Obama has said, cause electricity and other energy prices to “necessarily skyrocket”.

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Dear Friends,

In less than 24 hours, Speaker Pelosi’s plan to implement a national energy tax is set to be on the House floor.

The plan would place a devastating tax on all Americans known as “Cap and Tax” with the intent to reduce America’s carbon emission levels in 2050 to the level emitted in 1910.  That’s no easy task when you consider that the population of the United States in 1910 was just 92 million people compared to an estimated 420 million in 2050.  However, I believe it’s a laudable goal but one that should be achieved through tax incentives and alternative energy research.

Consider that the only nations in the world that currently emit at that level are Belize, Jordan Haiti and Somalia.  In order to reach that level, emissions from the transportation sector would have to drop to zero, as would those from all electricity generation, and we would still need to reduce all other sources of greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent.  Theoretically, if all the countries did so it would work but without them following suit, large energy-consuming industries will simply relocate to countries without these same restrictions.

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The Cap and Tax Fiction
Democrats off-loading economics to pass climate change bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put cap-and-trade legislation on a forced march through the House, and the bill may get a full vote as early as Friday. It looks as if the Democrats will have to destroy the discipline of economics to get it done.

Despite House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman’s many payoffs to Members, rural and Blue Dog Democrats remain wary of voting for a bill that will impose crushing costs on their home-district businesses and consumers. The leadership’s solution to this problem is to simply claim the bill defies the laws of economics.

Their gambit got a boost this week, when the Congressional Budget Office did an analysis of what has come to be known as the Waxman-Markey bill. According to the CBO, the climate legislation would cost the average household only $175 a year by 2020. Edward Markey, Mr. Waxman’s co-author, instantly set to crowing that the cost of upending the entire energy economy would be no more than a postage stamp a day for the average household. Amazing. A closer look at the CBO analysis finds that it contains so many caveats as to render it useless.

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Jack spoke on the House floor today to discuss the economic impact on the City of Hinesville and Liberty County a recent Army decision to no longer direct a 5th BCT to the area.  To view the colloquy, click below.

Transcript after the break…

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If you haven’t had a chance yet to watch Republican Whip Eric Cantor’s new web video, “Number One Priority,” check it out below:

Jack is the Co-Chair of the Media Fairness Caucus and spoke during a press conference today protesting ABC News slanted all-day coverage of the Presidents health care agenda. By refusing to include the opposing view point and rejecting paid advertising that would present an alternative, ABC is taking on the appearance of a White House-run television network.

In a new web video Jack discusses the Wheels for Wellness program which he successfully stripped from the bill that will fund Congress this year, saving tax payers $100,000. So far the program has spent $200,000 which only purchased 30 bikes. The bikes were only utilized 186 times by employees and are only available during work hours, when in theory staff should be working in their taxpayer funded job.

Congressman highlights impact of national energy tax on agriculture

WASHINGTON, DC – Following an announcement late last night that House Democrats have reached an agreement within their caucus to pass “Cap and Tax” legislation, Congressman Jack Kingston (R/GA-1) expressed grave concern over the legislation’s impact on agriculture.

Congressman Kingston, who serves in the top Republican spot on the House Agriculture Appropriations Committee, noted agriculture’s reliance on energy-related inputs.

“They’ve put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig even though the lipstick looks lovely,” Congressman Kingston said.  “Agriculture is inherently a energy-intensive industry and this bill does nothing to mitigate that fact.  From tractor fuel to fertilizer to livestock feed, farmers across America are especially vulnerable to this proposed national energy tax.  Our farmers are already struggling with the high cost of fertilizer and feed and gas prices are going up.  Now, in this time of economic downturn, is not the time to further drive up the cost of farming and the cost of food.  American farmers can’t afford it and neither can American families.”

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As reported in today’s “Heard on the Hill,” Jack was an extra in Miley Cyrus’ new film “The Last Song” which is in production right now on Tybee.  From today’s Roll Call:

Heard on the Hill: Congressional Cameo

Teenage crooner Nick Jonas might be breaking hearts on Capitol Hill this week, but Rep. Jack Kingston spent his Monday hanging out with the singer’s even more famous rumored girlfriend — and it could turn into the Georgia Republican’s big break in showbiz.

Kingston got paid $8 an hour to appear as an extra in the new Miley Cyrus movie, “The Last Song,” which is being shot in Kingston’s district. For about 16 hours Monday, Kingston, his wife, son, niece and nephew hung around with the teenage superstar and about 600 other extras on Georgia’s Tybee Island, portraying typical beach-goers.

“They needed tons of untalented, unattractive, non-special extras,” Kingston joked to HOH. “I was the extra of the extras.”

Kingston described the filming as just “a normal day at the beach,” complete with a carnival set built specifically for the film. “We were walking around as tourists, looking at the rides, getting popcorn,” Kingston said of his role.

Kingston didn’t end up even meeting Cyrus, he said, although his 18-year-old son did. “I didn’t try, either,” he admitted.

And perhaps trying to prove that his life isn’t a beach, Kingston noted that he tried to get some Congressional work done during the filming, but his plans were foiled.

“I took with me a whole bunch of Congressional reading, and at one point a wave washed up on the beach and soaked and ruined all my papers,” Kingston said. “Which was a good thing. It’s one way to process it.”

Source.

As reported below, House Democrats have reached a deal on instituting their national energy tax known as “Cap and Tax”.The agreement makes two changes to the original version:

• The USDA, not the EPA, will be in charge of managing an offset program that pays farmers and other landowners to conduct environmentally friendly projects
• The EPA is blocked for at least 5 years from calculating “indirect” greenhouse gas emissions from land-use changes in implementing the federal biofuels standard

Democrat staff on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to draft the legislative language overnight for release tomorrow morning.  This will give us less than 24 hours to go over a bill which will institute a national energy tax on almost every America.  Stay tuned for updates.If you’d like to weigh in on global warming and the national energy tax, click here to take Jack’s survey.  After completing the survey, please take time to provide additional thoughts by clicking here.

Roll Call is reporting that House Democrats have reached a deal on their national energy tax legislation and that the bill will be on the floor this Friday.  To read the article, click here.If you haven’t done so already, click here to take a survey to let Jack know where you stand on global warming and the national energy tax.

In case you missed it - below is an article by the AJC’s Jim Galloway on the “controversy” of Jack inviting someone with an outside view for a discussion on health care.U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Savannah) has been outed and convicted, drawn and quartered.His crime: Arranging conversations with people who don’t toe the Republican line when it comes to health care.Which in some Washington circles appears to be a capital offense.Granted, the person with whom Kingston — and other GOP congressmen — conversed has the fashion sense of a clown. Which might also be part of the outrage. Read the rest of this entry »

Courtesy House Republican Conference

852—Pages in the bill

120 million—Number of individuals who could lose their current coverage as a result of the
government-run plan reimbursing at Medicare rates created in the bill, according to non-partisan
actuaries at the Lewin Group

4.7 million—Number of jobs that could be lost as a result of taxes on businesses that cannot afford to provide health insurance coverage, according to a model developed by Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer

$88,200—Definition of “low-income” family of four for purposes of health insurance subsidies
Trillions—New federal spending, which likely could exceed the $1.6 trillion reported price tag of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus’ legislation

32—Entitlement programs the bill creates, expands, or extends

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The Supreme Court today ruled, with one dissenting vote, that a Texas water district is exempt from Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act but did not address the constitutionality of the overall measure.  The ruling said that a utility district based in Austin, Texas can opt out of getting advance approval for changing the way elections are conducted.

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires that only certain states of jurisdictions pre-approve through the Department of Justice any change to voting procedures or districts.  Georgia is one of the few states caught under this rule.

Justice Clarence Thomas, the lone African-American on the court, indicated that he was ready to void the advance notice provision saying, “the violence, intimidation and subterfuge that led Congress to pass Section 5 and this court to uphold it no longer remains.”   Chief Justice Roberts, however, said whether civil rights gains have made advance approval unnecessary “is a difficult constitutional question we do not answer today.”

You may recall earlier this month that the Department of Justice overturned a Georgia law which created a statewide database to identify voters and verify their citizenship using Section 5 of the VRA.  Jack joined with Georgia’s GOP delegation in slamming the partisan decision.  To view the release, click here.

To read the Court’s decision, click here.