Conservative opponents of the Waxman-Markey bill are targeting the eight Republicans who voted for it in the House. The bill would not have passed without their support.Leo Alberti via michellemalkin.com.Republican House members who provided the margin of victory in last week’s narrow passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act are taking heat from the right for their votes.
Just eight GOP lawmakers voted in favor of the measure: Mary Bono Mack (Calif.), Mike Castle (Del.), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), John McHugh (N.Y.), Dave Reichert (Wash.), Chris Smith (N.J), Leonard Lance (N.J), and Mark Kirk (Ill.). Without those votes, the measure would have failed.
Conservative pundits have taken to calling them the “Elite Eight” (with “elite” serving as code for aloof and deaf to the man on the street) or “Cap-and-traitors.” Several of the eight are being told they may face primary challenges next year from more conservative candidates.
“Wanted in the United States of American: For selling out taxpayers,” reads a Photoshopped image on the blog of conservative opinion writer Michelle Malkin. It includes faux mug-shots of all eight, and decries the bill as “cap-and-tax.”
“Congrats, congresspeople, you helped the Democrats pass a junk science-based, massive national energy tax,” Malkin wrote. “Headed to Disney World now?”
Conservative television host Glenn Beck has promoted the use of the phrase “cap-and-traitors” to describe the pro-ACES Republicans, as has Human Events.
The masterminds behind the conservative “tea parties” earlier this year have also created a website, www.capandtr8tors.com, calling on the eight to change their vote when the bill comes back to the House for a final vote, or risk a primary challenge from the right. “They have 5 Days from the time of their vote to change them, or we will work to vote them out of office,” the site threatens. The authors are also using the #capandtr8tors tag on Twitter to track conversation about this topic (which I suggest following if you want some insight into how the other side thinks).
The backlash is also being promoted over at Tea Party Patriots HQ, with a “Citizens’ Brigade Call to Action” on ACES. Readers are encouraged to host Fourth of July rallies against the bill. Here’s the (highly melodramatic) action alert, which urges followers to call senators—and be prepared to offer a fake location for yourself if you’re not actually one of their constituents:
The US House of Representatives stealthily passed Cap & Trade just after 7pm eastern on Friday June 26th. They mocked the will of the American people and ignored the fact that you melted their phone lines and crashed their email in opposition. They are counting on us not doing anything because it is a weekend and typical vacation week. But in this week dedicated to patriotism, and the birth of this great nation, we shall not rest!
It is time to begin hammering on the Senate. The Senate is much more susceptible to our pressure, and we need to pound on each and every member of the Senate to shelve this abomination. We don’t want them to pass a watered down version; we want it to go away completely. In order to make this happen, they need to hear from you, by the millions!
Our representatives have underestimated Tea Party Patriots; we will not go away quietly into the night. We will fight until this bill is sent to the shredders, where it belongs. It is time to start calling and writing to your Senators, immediately, without delay. Write and call Senators across the nation ... we cannot rest until this bill is dead.
When you write or call, please make sure you are armed with a city name and zip code in the home state of the Senator you are calling. They may not want to hear from you without this information. You can decline to give further personal information.
And, as you might expect, radio talk show king Rush Limbaugh, possibly the right-wingiest of all, has weighed in loudly, starting with a whack conspiracy theory that the majority of the Republicans who voted for it must be looking to profit off cap-and-trade in some way. Here’s a (largely incoherent) excerpt from his show on Monday:
[E]verybody who voted for this thing needs to be sent packing because it wasn’t even written. There is a requirement that the bill being voted on be in the well of the House. It was not there because it hadn’t been written, much less read.
There’s no reason for these Republicans to give cover to Democrats unless there was some overriding concern. And that is, campaign contributions for reelection efforts from Wall Street people who are going to be—if this thing ever does happen, it will be a disaster. Folks, it will be a disaster.
Conservative radio host Mark Levin is also going after the eight lawmakers, calling the Waxman-Markey bill “the most loathsome piece of legislation ... so far.” These Republicans, he said, “couldn’t muster the courage to vote the right way,” and conservatives should campaign to throw them out of office. Levin is also calling for his listeners to take on Democrats who voted for the bill who are seen as vulnerable in the next election.
For McCain, it’s really all about the fake snow
What to make of the new climate poll
Obama administration may (finally) offer greenhouse-gas targets
Comments
View as Threaded
aquaken Posted 10:00 am
02 Jul 2009
Permalink
got2bgreen Posted 10:47 am
02 Jul 2009
Permalink
randino Posted 11:30 am
02 Jul 2009
Permalink
Abscam Man Posted 12:18 pm
02 Jul 2009
Permalink
Teuthis Posted 4:11 pm
02 Jul 2009
Permalink
davescott Posted 4:27 pm
02 Jul 2009
Permalink
Erik Hoffner Posted 6:55 pm
02 Jul 2009
But their party is truly deaf if they think rhetoric and soundbites are enough to confuse people into ambivalence on the issue of climate change. They also don't consider the fresh age of the hordes of climate activists in the country.
Erik, Orion Grassroots Network
Permalink
Global Changes Posted 6:30 am
03 Jul 2009
Permalink
James C. Wilson Posted 9:24 pm
03 Jul 2009
The Republicans are going to run against the First Law!! The First Law of Thermodynamics. The Party of Nixon (he created the EPA, signed the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Signed the NEPA.) is going to run against applying the First Law of Thermodynamics to climate. The GOP is running on Separation of Science and State. The climate contrarians have been looking for the Achilles' Heel of anthropogenic global warming (AWG). The first great hope was the failure of the NOAA MSU's to duplicate the surface record of warming. Dr. Singer argued (incorrectly) that the satellites were the most accurate devices around and he would not believe warming until they showed it. IPCC 2001 hedged their bets with a 'preponderance of evidence" claim on warming because the MSU's were not on board. Well, then they re-analyzed the MSU output and found the warming. Too bad. Then Dr. Lindzen pointed out that the outgoing long wavelength radiation was not in agreement with the models. Again this would be a problem since outgoing long wavelength radiation is fundamental. Again satellite retrievals were revised and now the outgoing longwavelength radiation measurements are in accord with AGW. Bad Luck. Finally the temperature measurements of the oceans produced the transient hope that the energy would not balance. But corrections and this year's papers have set that right. AGW obeys the first law of thermodynamics. There is no place to hide.So the Republicans are going to run against the First Law. The party of Ronald Reagan is going to deny the existence of climate change as a central part of who they are. (Remember that Reagan whole-hearted acted to protect stratospheric ozone. In 50 generations, it is all he will be remembered for.)Who can vote Republican after they run agains the First Law of Thermodynamics?????? Well, lots of people actually. They might even win. Sad but true.Regards,
Permalink
solargroupies Posted 2:17 am
05 Jul 2009
Permalink
Catmoves Posted 9:45 am
08 Jul 2009
Permalink
its easy being green Posted 9:59 pm
08 Jul 2009
Permalink
davescott Posted 3:24 am
09 Jul 2009
Permalink
socsciprof Posted 8:21 am
09 Jul 2009
Permalink