“The one thing elected officials should be able to agree on is that global warming shouldn’t be used as an excuse to hike taxes on citizens and businesses,” said AFP Policy Director Phil Kerpen. “We encourage all of Washington’s elected officials and candidates for elected office to sign the pledge.”
Prominent signers include: U.S. Senators Thune, Brownback, Roberts, Vitter, Wicker, Inhofe, and Coburn; U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor; and Lieutenant Governors Bolling (Va.) and Kinder (Mo.)
Cap-and-trade took its first step toward enactment when the U.S. House narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey energy tax bill, which escaped the lower chamber by a scant seven votes despite significant bipartisan opposition. Senators Boxer (D-Calif.) and Kerry (D-Mass.) have begun committee hearings on companion legislation in the Senate. However, key Democratic senators have expressed opposition to attempting to pass cap-and-trade.
President Obama has made no secret of his support for the bill, which would be the largest tax increase in American history. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has scored the House plan as an $846 billion increase in federal revenue, a burden that will be borne by taxpayers and consumers for decades to come.
“Using the guise of climate change to transfer dollars from hard-working citizens to bureaucratic big government is unacceptable,” said Kerpen. “Regardless of their stance on global warming, this should be common ground for all of our elected officials at all levels of government.”
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Americans for Prosperity® (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual's right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than 900,000 members, including members in all 50 states, and 25 state chapters. More than 55,000 Americans in all 50 states have made a financial investment in AFP or AFP Foundation. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
