While David is up in the attic laying out the insulation, I can't help but hope that this results in a much lower energy bill. Our average bill runs around $194.00 each month but in December, January, and February, our bill ran an average of $400.00 each month. We had a much colder winter down here then I remember having in the past 15 years or so. These higher bills have put a real strain on our already strained budget.
This reflection on our energy bills prompted me to look at the Cap and Trade resolution that President Obama and Sen. John McCain have been putting forward for the last few years and which now has come before the Congress for passage into actual law. Now I know its all about global warming (despite the record cold temps we all experienced this year) but what does it actually mean for those of us already struggling in this economy to make ends meet? Here's a little bit of what I've found:
1.) The cap and trade will be used to limit carbon production on our energy producers..i.e. electric, oil, natural gas, and gasoline for our vehicles. The fees paid by the companies will be "recovered" from the customer; that means you and me.
2). This recovery (aka recapture) will translate into an average increase of the cost of purchasing energy/gasoline to about $800.00 annually per household in the United States (about $68.00 per month). If you drive further to work your costs will actually be much higher due to new taxes on each gallon of gas you purchase. There are also plans to put systems into new vehicles that map your miles - if you buy one of those new cars, you will be charged a tax per mile that you drive plus a tax on each gallon of gas you purchase.
3. This recovery of fees, costing the average household $800.00 annually will effectively eliminate the "making work pay" tax credit of $400.00 per individual and $800.00 per couple. The new budget which is being evaluated and revised by Congress will eliminate that "making work pay" tax credit for the tax year 2010 anyway, so this is really a tax increase by the President who promised a tax cut.....
4. It has been estimated that the Gross Domestic Product of the United States will diminish by 1% by the end of 2014 due to the loss of spending income to American households because of this cap and trade taxation (that estimate considers ONLY this cap and trade not the state of the rest of the economy and present unemployment rates).
5. It has been estimated that the decrease in Gross Domestic Product will result in 850,000 less jobs created by 2014 due to the fact that Americans will have less spending power so less production will be needed.
Unemployment is rising. The President states that his new budget will create new jobs.....but in that budget is a proposal that will in effect eliminate 850,000 jobs by 2010. We Americans are the victims of "bait and switch" perpetuated on us by the very people we elect to protect us from that tactic.
Last summer when our gasoline prices hit $4.00 a gallon (and that is when the economy really began its nose dive folks, not with the crash of the housing market), we rose up and cried "Drill Here, Drill Now". And the past administration listened; for a time it appeared that we would begin once again to explore our own natural resources to limit our dependence on foreign oil for our heating and gas bills; yet this new administration has shut down all avenues for our country to provide its own energy instead focusing on making Americans pay more for the status quo. (HR 146, OMNIBUS PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2009 - Floor Speeches / Law (This bill also loses 80,000 jobs in California according to one Representative/Denies wheelchair access to some public lands AND makes 2 million acres Wilderness with no public access at all - this land grab adds to the 30% of American land that the government already owns (1.7 million acres)and infringes on the II Amendment again.
As David puts in insulation, I am already composing a letter to my representatives urging them to continue to fight this new administration's budget that will make it harder for me to feed and clothe my family. What about you?
Note: HR 146 is a compilation of approximately 177 bills all rolled together to force through passage - 100 of the bills have NOT BEEN READ OR DEBATED by the House of Representatives or the Senate. Here we go again.....
This reflection on our energy bills prompted me to look at the Cap and Trade resolution that President Obama and Sen. John McCain have been putting forward for the last few years and which now has come before the Congress for passage into actual law. Now I know its all about global warming (despite the record cold temps we all experienced this year) but what does it actually mean for those of us already struggling in this economy to make ends meet? Here's a little bit of what I've found:
1.) The cap and trade will be used to limit carbon production on our energy producers..i.e. electric, oil, natural gas, and gasoline for our vehicles. The fees paid by the companies will be "recovered" from the customer; that means you and me.
2). This recovery (aka recapture) will translate into an average increase of the cost of purchasing energy/gasoline to about $800.00 annually per household in the United States (about $68.00 per month). If you drive further to work your costs will actually be much higher due to new taxes on each gallon of gas you purchase. There are also plans to put systems into new vehicles that map your miles - if you buy one of those new cars, you will be charged a tax per mile that you drive plus a tax on each gallon of gas you purchase.
3. This recovery of fees, costing the average household $800.00 annually will effectively eliminate the "making work pay" tax credit of $400.00 per individual and $800.00 per couple. The new budget which is being evaluated and revised by Congress will eliminate that "making work pay" tax credit for the tax year 2010 anyway, so this is really a tax increase by the President who promised a tax cut.....
4. It has been estimated that the Gross Domestic Product of the United States will diminish by 1% by the end of 2014 due to the loss of spending income to American households because of this cap and trade taxation (that estimate considers ONLY this cap and trade not the state of the rest of the economy and present unemployment rates).
5. It has been estimated that the decrease in Gross Domestic Product will result in 850,000 less jobs created by 2014 due to the fact that Americans will have less spending power so less production will be needed.
Unemployment is rising. The President states that his new budget will create new jobs.....but in that budget is a proposal that will in effect eliminate 850,000 jobs by 2010. We Americans are the victims of "bait and switch" perpetuated on us by the very people we elect to protect us from that tactic.
Last summer when our gasoline prices hit $4.00 a gallon (and that is when the economy really began its nose dive folks, not with the crash of the housing market), we rose up and cried "Drill Here, Drill Now". And the past administration listened; for a time it appeared that we would begin once again to explore our own natural resources to limit our dependence on foreign oil for our heating and gas bills; yet this new administration has shut down all avenues for our country to provide its own energy instead focusing on making Americans pay more for the status quo. (HR 146, OMNIBUS PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2009 - Floor Speeches / Law (This bill also loses 80,000 jobs in California according to one Representative/Denies wheelchair access to some public lands AND makes 2 million acres Wilderness with no public access at all - this land grab adds to the 30% of American land that the government already owns (1.7 million acres)and infringes on the II Amendment again.
As David puts in insulation, I am already composing a letter to my representatives urging them to continue to fight this new administration's budget that will make it harder for me to feed and clothe my family. What about you?
Note: HR 146 is a compilation of approximately 177 bills all rolled together to force through passage - 100 of the bills have NOT BEEN READ OR DEBATED by the House of Representatives or the Senate. Here we go again.....
You tell it, people don't realize what Obama is talking about with the name its been given....but it's about MONEY. THEM taking more of OURS. And perhaps having people on a fixed income going cold..this man, I am convinced, is on a mission to DESTROY America and I don't see anyone standing up to fight and STOP him!
ReplyDeleteFight on!
Joni
i like to read your words .. i just on holiday for a while and wil be back soon love andrea
ReplyDelete2010 and election season can't get here fast enough in my opinion. We have got to get a balance of power back into the Congress....the Dems are ramming through legislation without allowing amendments....this particular one has emminent domain issues, gun rights issues and disabled rights issues.....I thought it was the Republicans who didn't care for the disabled? Yeah right.
ReplyDelete