The “Offending Eight” and the Future of Waxman-Markey
The eight Republican members of the house, let’s call them the “offending eight”, who voted for the Waxman-Markey climate change bill have piqued conservatives, who are now talking primary challenges.
Alan Steinberg, a regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President George W. Bush, called the ayes by New Jersey Republicans Frank LoBiondo, Leonard Lance and Chris Smith “the cap-and-trade disaster” on the PolitickerNJ blog. He urged state GOP leaders to eliminate Lance’s seat in the 2012 redistricting.
All of this, of course, could be expected given the nature of the bill and the vehemence of conservative opposition, but it does portend some difficulties for its passage. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, (D-N.M.), told Politico that he believes there are 60 votes for the measure and Sen. John Kerry, (D-Mass.), agrees.
But Democrats from industrial states, the upper house version of the Dingell Democrats, fear that the proposed law will be another hurdle that U.S.-based companies have to face when competing with overseas rivals.
Tom Friedman has practically begged Obama to throw his full weight behind the bill:
“He is going to have to mobilize the whole country to pressure the Senate – by educating Americans, with speech after speech, about the opportunities and necessities of a serious climate/energy bill. If he is not ready to risk failure by going all out, failure will be the most likely result.”
We think the real question is, will conservative power brokers blow all of their remaining clout on opposition to cap and trade, or do they have to save up for fighting health care?
