Think Progress

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, Ryan Powers, and Brad Johnson

ENERGY

The American Clean Energy And Security Act

Following President Obama's call for investment in a clean energy economy, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chair Ed Markey (D-MA) this week unveiled green economy legislation.  The 648-page "discussion draft" of the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act sets national standards for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and global warming pollution, but it does not specify whether industry will be subsidized to achieve those standards. However, the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Joseph Romm still gave the bill a "B+," because it "boosts the economy, creates green jobs, and puts the country on a path to preserve a livable climate." The global warming cap-and-trade system described in the bill would restore American technological leadership and steer us away from planetary catastrophe. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) claimed it would "raise energy taxes in the midst of a serious recession." Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) echoed industry talking points by saying that the pollution targets "impose too much of a burden." Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) claimed that the bill would "save the planet by sacrificing the economy."

ECONOMY VS. ENVIRONMENT?: The attacks on green economy legislation are based on the premise that protecting the environment comes at a cost to the economy. But the premise is false. Our fossil-based economy comes with great costs for society -- and not just the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on Saudi oil. Global warming-fueled disasters already cost the United States billions of dollars a year, and their cost will eventually reach trillions. Clean energy standards will reduce the 24,000 premature deaths, 550,000 asthma attacks, and 38,000 heart attacks caused each year by power-plant pollution and disproportionately harms children and the elderly. According to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists, the ACES standard requiring all utilities to obtain 25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025 would create 297,000 new domestic jobs and save consumers $64.3 billion in lower electricity and natural gas bills. Building a green economy that would cut United States greenhouse emissions by 45 percent by 2030 could create a net 7.8 million jobs versus business as usual. The economy versus environment myth was debunked 10 years ago when a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researcher found that states with stronger environmental policies "consistently out-performed the weaker environmental states on all the economic measures." The true choice facing the American public is a green economy that offers jobs, opportunity, and a healthy planet, or a gray economy of pollution, debt, and inequity.

THE 'LIGHT-SWITCH TAX' LIE: Republican leaders like Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are attacking cap-and-trade proposals before Congress by claiming that researchers at MIT found that it would create "a light switch tax that would cost every American household $3,128 a year." This is a deliberate lie, distributed by the National Republican Congressional Committee to dozens of districts. A Progress Report analysis has found 11 different Republicans repeating the lie this week, from Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), who inflated the number to $4,560. In an interview with PolitiFact, John Reilly, an MIT professor and one of the authors of the study, said of the $3,100 claim: "It's just wrong. It's wrong in so many ways it’s hard to begin." Republicans arrived at the figure by taking the value of the cap-and-trade market and dividing it equally among American households. But the value of the market doesn't equal the cost to citizens. The pollution cap would "push the price of carbon-based fuels up a bit, but other results of a cap-and-trade program, such as increased conservation and more competition from other fuel sources, would put downward pressure on prices." On Wednesday, Reilly sent a forceful letter to Boehner and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming to denounce this blatant distortion. Reilly noted that $3,100 was actually "10 times the correct estimate, which is approximately $340," and that the costs on lower and middle income households can be "completely offset by returning allowance revenue to these households" -- as called for by Obama. 

'APRIL FOOL'S' ALTERNATIVE: On Wednesday, April 1, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, released his party's alternative proposal that outlined an "inspiring vision" for American energy policy. The GOP budget would achieve the goals of "reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, deploying more clean and renewable energy sources free of greenhouse gas, and supporting economic growth," Ryan argued, "by rejecting the president's cap-and-trade scheme, by opening exploration on our nation's oil and gas fields, and by investing the proceeds in a new clean energy trust fund, infrastructure and further deficit reduction." This plan is indistinguishable from Bush-Cheney energy policy, in both language and policy. In every State of the Union address he delivered, President Bush promised to to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Bush opened the floodgates to domestic drilling and oil and gas companies enjoyed record profits, as gas prices exploded and our dependence on foreign oil rose to record highs. Bush rejected cap and trade as "bad legislation" that "would raise fuel prices and raise taxes on Americans" and "demand drastic emissions cuts that have no chance of being realized." Meanwhile, U.S. greenhouse gas pollution rose and climate disasters skyrocketed. Bush established a cornucopia of "clean energy" initiatives while slashing funds for renewable energy and blocking energy efficiency standards to maintain our dependence on coal. Admitting that in "the recent past, the Republican Party failed to offer the nation...innovative and principled solutions." Ryan said he does "not intend to repeat that mistake." As the Washington Monthly's Steve Benen said, "April Fool's."

MIDDLE EAST -- PETRAEUS SAYS ISRAEL MAY ATTACK IRAN AS ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER DISMISSES PEACE EFFORT:  Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, CentCom Commander Gen. David Petraeus said that Israel may take "preemptive military action" against Iran to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. "The Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military action to derail or delay it," he said. In another development demonstrating the new Israeli government's hawkish tilt, the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg reported earlier this week that new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said President Obama "must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons -- and quickly -- or an imperiled Israel may be forced to attack Iran's nuclear facilities itself." Furthermore, Israel's foreign minster, Avigdor Lieberman, dismissed calls for a Palestinian state, highlighting a "sharp disagreement" between Netanyahu's government and the Obama administration. During a "blunt and belligerent" speech yesterday, Lieberman claimed the so-called "two-state solution" has "no validity," and said of the Israel-Palestine peace process: "Those who think that through concessions they will gain respect and peace are wrong. It is the other way around; it will lead to more wars."  HEALTH CARE -- JINDAL PLANS TO DECLINE FUNDING FOR LOW-INCOME HEALTH COVERAGE IN STIMULUS: Earlier this week, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) announced that he "plans to reject some federal health-care dollars for the poor and uninsured." Louisiana's Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine "said accepting the new federal financing would require the state to put up matching money that it doesn't have." As the Times-Picayune explained, "At issue are two Medicaid programs financed with a mix of state and federal dollars: the Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) program, which provides health coverage for people who are leaving welfare for work; and the 'disproportionate share' program, which reimburses health-care providers for treating the uninsured. Levine said the state plans to turn away about $9.5 million in federal money for the transitional program." TMA allows low-income families who have lost jobs and thus become eligible for Medicaid to maintain access to health care when they regain employment or increase their hours. The stimulus package extended the TMA program's funding through December 2010. The disproportionate-share program aids hospitals that serve a large number of the poor and uninsured. Jindal's decision is extremely short-sighted, particularly while his state is facing a rising unemployment rate. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities observed, during the recession, lower-income families are vulnerable to a lack of coverage, potentially leading to absenteeism and job loss. RADICAL RIGHT -- LEADER OF INSURANCE FRAUD SCANDAL LOBBIES AGAINST OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE PLANS: Prominent investor and conservative activist Richard Scott will begin a "rotation of advertisements against the broad outlines of President Obama's health care plans," the New York Times reports today. Scott is currently the head of Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR), a group that is leading a $20 million health care misinformation campaign in an attempt to sway public opinion against Obama's health care reform proposals. CPR  is also working with the public relations firm responsible for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign. Scott has a notorious history within the health care industry. He helped to build "Columbia/HCA into the largest health care company in the world" but was dismissed by the company's board of directors in 1997, after perpetrating the nation's largest health care fraud in history. The scandal resulted in a $1.7 billion settlement to pay for a number charges that included "overbilling of state and federal health programs." Indeed, Scott probably "hopes people don't Google his name," John E. Hartwig, the former deputy inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, said. "I just don't understand why he would be a messenger people would listen to," said Charles Kahn, a senior executive that ran the infamous "Harry & Louise" advertisements fifteen years ago but is now pushing for health care reform.

MSNBC announced that it has hired liberal radio host Ed Schultz to anchor its 6 pm hour starting on Monday. The current anchor, David Shuster, will co-host the 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. hours with Tamron Hall and substitute as host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Gen. David Petraeus said yesterday that "American commanders have requested the deployment of an additional 10,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year" and that he is awaiting President Obama's final decision. Petraeus acknowledged that the troops-to-population ratio is "significantly lower than the 20 troops per 1,000 people prescribed by the Army counterinsurgency manual he helped write." 9: Number of American troops killed in Iraq during March, the lowest monthly total since the war began, according to icasualities.org. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) is today introducing legislation "to set up a permanent federal commission on women just weeks after President Barack Obama created an interagency council to focus the government’s policies towards women and girls." Women Count has a petition urging Congress to support Speier's bill here. President Obama, who is attending the G20 summit, "is enjoying a 61% job approval rating at home for handling foreign affairs, up seven points since February." Obama's economic approval rating "has slipped slightly, from 59% in February to 56% today." At the National Republican Senatorial Committee's spring dinner last night, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said that "Republicans shouldn’t oppose President Obama as a reflex and should praise him when he succeeds." "I also think its important for us to nod to the president when he’s right. He will not always be wrong," Romney said. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) told The Hill yesterday that "he intends to approach Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) on the Senate floor this week to see" if they can craft an alternative to the Employee Free Choice Act, which Specter effectively blocked last week. "I see this time now as really an opportunity for compromise or for a new approach on addressing some of the issues that revolve around that issue," said Pryor. If Al Franken is still ahead after Norm Coleman exhausts his options in Minnesota State courts, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) "will have a choice: sign the election certificate that will allow Democrats to seat Franken in the Senate or play to the Republicans whose support he'd need in 2012 by withholding the certificate while Coleman challenges the election in the federal court system." And finally: President Obama's limo is "nicknamed ‘The Beast', and it seems it was designed for wide American roads." Yesterday, administration staffers struggled to "“park the Cadillac outside Downing Street for the President's meeting with the Prime Minister, eventually managing an unwieldy three-point turn." Watch the tricky maneuver here.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee amended the Presidential Records Act yesterday, repealing an executive order President Bush issued in 2001 that gave "more authority to former presidents to withhold records."

THINK PROGRESS: Fox & Friends embraces Bill O'Reilly's harassment tactics, sending a producer to stalk a college professor.

WONK ROOM: Republican "April Fools" budget is a $1.5 million tax windfall for CEOs.

YGLESIAS: "April Fools" budget relies on inconsistent tax rates.

VET VOICE: Don't Ask, Don't Tell: 20th century generals confront reality of modern military.

CALIFORNIA: Education officials are worried that federal recovery package money may not be sufficient to stave off teacher layoffs.

VERMONT: It is unclear whether the marriage equality bill will receive the 100 House votes necessary to override a promised veto.

ECONOMY: Tomorrow is the formal deadline for states to accept money from the federal stimulus package.

"I believe there is a socialist agenda there for America."
-- Right-wing commentator Glenn Beck, 4/27/08, on President Obama

VERSUS

"Our government is not marching down the road towards communism or socialism. ... They're marching us to a non-violent fascism."
-- Beck, 4/1/09

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