House GOP threatens utilities for not toeing climate-change line
“GOP lawmakers and industry lobbyists are talking about legislation aimed at reining in power companies after some utilities were seen as being less than friendly to their efforts to block Obama administration climate change rules.
Several House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans and industry lobbyists are pushing for a “Ratepayer Protection Act,” a measure that would limit utilities’ ability to pass along costs to consumers, according to lobbyists close to the committee.
The discussions come after POLITICO last week reported that several top utility CEOs weren’t thrilled with a draft bill from Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to preempt the EPA on climate change.
CEOs from American Electric Power, NextEra Energy, Southern Co. and Dominion Resources said to varying degrees that they support allowing the EPA to proceed on a “reasonable” time frame on greenhouse gas rules for power plants, petroleum refiners and other major stationary sources.”
In other words, Republicans in Congress want to use the power of government to punish utilities for being insufficiently opposed to greenhouse gas regulation. Lovely use of limited government there, folks.
Oh, and I just have to ask: What provision of the Constitution empowers Congress to interfere in the decisions of state Public Service Commissions in their regulation of state-chartered utilities?
– Jay Bookman
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2,155 comments Add your comment
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:45 pm
“aaaaaaand they keep coming…..’
But..but…but….you’re a racist!!!!!!! Typical lib response.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:46 pm
“And who cares what fake doctors handed out.”
America does, Taxpayer.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:46 pm
How many teachers lost their jobs for not showing up to work. Give me some facts, Republilosers.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:46 pm
“And who cares what fake doctors handed out.”
Law enforcement.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
March 10th, 2011
2:46 pm
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:25 pm
and from your favorite, the Huffington Post…..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Ramirez/democratic-strategy-wisconsin_n_825584_77949143.html
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:47 pm
“How many teachers lost their jobs for not showing up to work. Give me some facts, Republilosers.’
Taxpayer, grow up. Seriously, can you not debate without name calling?
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:47 pm
America does, Taxpayer.
The “America” in your mind. No the real America.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:47 pm
WOW, grow up. Seriously dude or dudette.
md
March 10th, 2011
2:47 pm
HBD,
I wasn’t in the State to know, so I’m relying on what I read:
From your link:
“Cutting the budget in Madison usually means that local schools, the university system, local government services and other popular programs will feel the pain, so Walker will face opposition and perhaps resistance from his party if he goes too far.”
and this comes from my link:
“There is no dispute that Walker campaigned on getting concessions on health and pension benefits from state employees. And, to be sure, that is an important part of the measure.”
http://politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/22/scott-walker/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-says-he-campaigned-his-/
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:48 pm
“the Huffington Post’
It’s funny how Ariana made 110 million dollars yet AOL just laid off over 100 Huffpost employees.
Doesn’t she hate capitalism? Funny how the capitalist haters make their millions off what they hate.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:48 pm
WOW,
Law enforcement. Really dude. Teachers behind bars. Uh Huh.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:48 pm
“WOW, grow up. Seriously dude or dudette.’
I guess daycare let out early.
stands for decibels
March 10th, 2011
2:48 pm
Great profiles in courage.
I believe the WI voters will agree with you, there, but time will tell.
Thulsa the Doom
March 10th, 2011
2:48 pm
Taxpayer,
You just need to go away with your head lowered and your tail between your legs. You just got a blog beatdown with cold, hard evidence. We conservatives call em FACTS.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:49 pm
“Law enforcement. Really dude. Teachers behind bars. Uh Huh.”
It’s against the law to pose as a doctor, Tax.
AmVet
March 10th, 2011
2:49 pm
“Most meteorological and scientific experts around the globe believe the globe is warming.’
No they don’t.
Prove your case. (just for sport)
Otherwise…Sayin’ it ain’t so don’t make it not so…
Normal
March 10th, 2011
2:49 pm
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:36 pm
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:49 pm
“You just got a blog beatdown with cold, hard evidence. ‘
Indeed.
Keep up the good fight!
March 10th, 2011
2:49 pm
Doomy says…”Duh, I’m winning!”
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
March 10th, 2011
2:50 pm
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:46 pm
Gee, Taxpayer, it must stink to be you.
You claim I have no facts to support my post and I provided roughly 5 links. Google had over 100,000 links to the bogus sick notes. Then when you see you’ve lost the argument, you say “who cares”. Then you really lose all credibility when you ask who lost their job for cutting work. Heck, if the school systems tried to get rid of the teachers with fake sick notes the teacher’s union would stand behind them.
I can’t wait to read your next “ostrich” response.
Oh yeah…….there’s your sign.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:50 pm
But..but…but….you’re a racist!!!!!!! Typical lib response.
Seriously WOW, can’t you debate without the name calling.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:50 pm
“Prove your case. (just for sport)”
Sure Vet, just as soon as you answer my simple question from yesterday regarding conservative racists.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:50 pm
“Seriously WOW, can’t you debate without the name calling.”
Tax, please quit while you’re behind.
md
March 10th, 2011
2:51 pm
“I must have missed where he campaigned on eliminating their collective bargaining rights. I mean, that’s what’s being fought for here. The compensation hits had already been agreed to.”
You couldn’t have missed it, because he didn’t.
But you obviously missed my other posts where I already stated that………….
Don’t be cherry picking posts as a Johnny come lately………
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:51 pm
Leg Lamp,
You have not provided anything that a loser like O’Keefe could not have faked. Show me the fired teachers and indicted doctors and teachers behind bars. It must really stink to be you.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:51 pm
AmVet
Just curious. Do you suffer from amnesia?
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:52 pm
“You have not provided anything that a loser like O’Keefe’
Tax, when you resort to name calling, you’ve lost the debate.
Thulsa the Doom
March 10th, 2011
2:52 pm
WOW,
You might want to check that. I thought it was over 200 workers laid off by Huffington Post. Either way though Arianna got PAID!!!! Now she can take her golden parachute and go back to whining about the perils of capitalism and people getting laid off.
In a side note some of the people laid off were IT people in India. Too Funny. Who woulda thought that the Huffington Post was OUTSOURCING jobs. Is that funny or what?
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:52 pm
WOW,
Quit it loser. You’re making me laugh too hard. Don’t worry, I’m laughing at you not with you.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:53 pm
“It must really stink to be you.’
Are you a teenager?
stands for decibels
March 10th, 2011
2:53 pm
The Rude Pundit shares his experiences, which I’ll share with the rational folks here.
[I've] got several friends in low-level positions in local and state governments in the South, in right-to-work states (which means, in case you don’t know, “you can work as long as you don’t join a union or until you look at your boss funny”). They work in jobs that have nothing to do with politics other than the fact that they are government workers. They are pencil pushers, researcher poins, and office monkeys. Some of them have been in their jobs for a couple of decades.
Yet every four years, when elections come around and the official who runs whatever department these friends are in is running for a new term, they sweat bullets. Because should their elected boss lose, a new boss can come in and fire anyone he or she wants without cause and without any recourse for someone who has done a job well for 10 or 20 years. Or, in other words, the newly-elected official can fire an employee with heavy seniority in order to give his/her nephew a job, and there is not a goddamned thing the employee can do about it.
You know where this doesn’t occur? In states where the public employees have union contracts that offer them protections gained through collective bargaining.
Now, in a brief moment of reflection, ask yourself, dear, sick-minded conservatives who don’t understand anything about labor/management relations: what is going to make public employees – your courthouse workers, your state tax office staff, your firefighters – more political in their jobs? To feel free to do the job they were hired to do? Or to feel as if they need to please the agenda of someone who can drop them at a whim? (And if your answer is, “Well, why should public employees be special? I can be fired from my job at Almagamated Douchebags if I don’t follow my boss’s political agenda no matter how good I am,” then you should probably unionize yourself.)
By the way, these friends get sh–ty salaries, in addition to the quadrennial diarrhea. You know why they stay at the jobs? The benefits make up for it. But, hey, let’s take that away, too.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:53 pm
Tax, when you resort to name calling, you’ve lost the debate.
WOW, You should have thought of that before you started name calling.
Normal
March 10th, 2011
2:53 pm
I don’t know how we got to global warming, but let me say this.
Does it really matter if the climate change is natural phenomenon or man
made? The problem is real so why aren’t we planning ahead and being prepared for the inevitable?
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:54 pm
“Quit it loser. ”
Fellow bloggers, this is what happens when you suffer from a massive defeat on a blog.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:54 pm
“You should have thought of that before you started name calling.’
I haven’t name called, Taxpayer.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:54 pm
“It must really stink to be you.’
Are you a teenager?
Has Leg Lamp replied to your inquiry yet.
Thulsa the Doom
March 10th, 2011
2:54 pm
I guess a couple of videos and news articles for Taxpayer aren’t enough. He won’t be satisfied until 6,000 videos are produced. I suppose Taxpayer is also in denial about the earth being round too. Flat earther are ya taxpayer?
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:55 pm
“The problem is real so why aren’t we planning ahead and being prepared for the inevitable?”
How do you plan for something that isn’t real?
AmVet
March 10th, 2011
2:55 pm
South Carolina GOP activist and former State Senate candidate, Rusty DePass.
“I’m sure it’s (western lowland gorilla) just one of Michelle’s (Obama) ancestors — probably harmless,” DePass wrote.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:55 pm
I haven’t name called, Taxpayer.
Yes you have.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:55 pm
TaxPayer
Please post anything I’ve said that even remotely sounds like name calling.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:55 pm
“Yes you have.”
Where?
Thulsa the Doom
March 10th, 2011
2:56 pm
WOW,
You also hitting taxpayer with facts regarding the name calling? He don’t like being confronted with the facts.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
March 10th, 2011
2:56 pm
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:55 pm
Better watch out…..Taxpayer may come back at you and say his dad can whip your dad.
md
March 10th, 2011
2:56 pm
The whole idea behind a right-to-work state, is it becomes a 2 way street……..if the employee can get up and leave “at will”, so too can the employer exercise the same right.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:56 pm
TaxPayer
I’ll tell you what. If you can find a “name” that I’ve called anyone, I’ll leave.
Fair?
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:57 pm
“You also hitting taxpayer with facts regarding the name calling? He don’t like being confronted with the facts.’
I’m still waiting for him to show me where I’ve name called.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:57 pm
I guess a couple of videos and news articles for Taxpayer aren’t enough. He won’t be satisfied until 6,000 videos are produced. I suppose Taxpayer is also in denial about the earth being round too. Flat earther are ya taxpayer?
One of those, are ya, Thulsa. Just another name caller. Where are those 6000 videos showing all those doctors getting indicted for handing out fake excuses and teachers being thrown in jail, flat earther.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:57 pm
“Better watch out…..Taxpayer may come back at you and say his dad can whip your dad.’
I’m totally sure he’d do that.
AmVet
March 10th, 2011
2:58 pm
Sherri Goforth, who works for Diane Black. (R-Tn)
When I asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, Goforth would only say she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list. When I gave her a second chance to address the controversial nature of the email, she again repeated that she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.
http://tinyurl.com/lwtufj
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:58 pm
TaxPayer
Come on now, show me where I’ve name called.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
2:58 pm
I’ll tell you what. If you can find a “name” that I’ve called anyone, I’ll leave.
Fair
Sure you will.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
March 10th, 2011
2:58 pm
Hey Taxpayer, even the Wall Street Journal reported on it:
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/02/22/doctors-notes-for-wisconsin-protestors-spark-controversy/
I guess in your world they have no facts either, right?
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:59 pm
“Sure you will.’
Ok, so you can’t find anything.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
2:59 pm
TaxPayer
Why did you lie about me?
WOODSTOCK MIKE
March 10th, 2011
2:59 pm
@AmVet
Those comments were made almost 2 years ago….
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:00 pm
“Those comments were made almost 2 years ago….”
He’s struggling to come up with anything.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
March 10th, 2011
3:00 pm
Hey Taxpayer………………OJ did it.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:00 pm
Now WOW will go on an endless rant proclaiming that I will not show where he name called. blah blah blah racist blah blah blah racist blah blah blah. Am I right, huh, Am I. This WOWmitation is easy.
Jm
March 10th, 2011
3:01 pm
Fair criticisms and questions jay.
Related. Wish dems would just own up to wanting higher energy prices
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:01 pm
“Now WOW will go on an endless rant proclaiming that I will not show where he name called. blah blah blah racist blah blah blah racist blah blah blah. Am I right, huh, Am I. This WOWmitation is easy.’
Taxpayer, you are a liar plain and simple. You should be ashamed of yourself.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:01 pm
Leg, No way dude. I saw how that glove would not go on his hand.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:02 pm
Taxpayer, you are a liar plain and simple. You should be ashamed of yourself.
WOW, you horrid little name caller. Be ashamed.
George W
March 10th, 2011
3:02 pm
TaxPayer….doesnt matter he is off the streets for many years.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:03 pm
“WOW, you horrid little name caller. Be ashamed.’
Folks, this is what happens when people can’t debate.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:03 pm
Related. Wish dems would just own up to wanting higher energy prices
I’m holding out for $5.00 a gallon gas and I’m not even a Dem. I wonder what they’re holding out for.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:03 pm
“WOW, you horrid little name caller. Be ashamed.’
You lied about me, Taxpayer.
Thulsa the Doom
March 10th, 2011
3:03 pm
Taxpayer,
Reading comprehension lesson. I’m gonna take you to school. I didn’t call you a flat earther. I asked you if you were a flat earther because you are in denial despite facts presented to you. The question mark at the end of the sentence should have been your first clue.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:04 pm
TaxPayer….doesnt matter he is off the streets for many years.
Really! What’d he do this time. I don’t keep up with such stuff.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:05 pm
Thulsa the Doom
It’s now a fact that Taxpayer is a liar.
TnGelding
March 10th, 2011
3:05 pm
At least they’re reining in big business in the name of the people, regardless of the motive.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:05 pm
“The question mark at the end of the sentence should have been your first clue.”
He needs to get a clue.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:05 pm
Reading comprehension lesson. I’m gonna take you to school. I didn’t call you a flat earther. I asked you if you were a flat earther because you are in denial despite facts presented to you. The question mark at the end of the sentence should have been your first clue.
Well! I did call you a flat earther so just try and deny that, mommy dearest.
AmVet
March 10th, 2011
3:05 pm
“The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”~R. Limbaugh
Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”~R. Limbaugh
“Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”~R. Limbaugh
Thulsa the Doom
March 10th, 2011
3:06 pm
Taxpayer
I will leave the blog also if you can show where WOW called you a name. Just review the comments for the last 2 minutes or so and show me where he called you a name. Truth talks and boolsheet walks.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:06 pm
“Well! I did call you a flat earther so just try and deny that, mommy dearest.”
Folks, this is just sad.
George W
March 10th, 2011
3:06 pm
AmVet….Isnt he GREAT!?!?!?
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:06 pm
“Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”~R. Limbaugh’
Priceless!!!!!!!
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
March 10th, 2011
3:07 pm
Taxpayer
Here was another good one.
http://mediatrackers.org/2011/02/i-went-to-madison-and-all-i-got-was-a-lousy-fake-doctors-note/
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:07 pm
It’s now a fact that Taxpayer is a liar
From the mouths of babes. You name caller you.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
March 10th, 2011
3:07 pm
AmVet
March 10th, 2011
3:05 pm
“Hymie town”……Jesse Jackson
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:07 pm
“I will leave the blog also if you can show where WOW called you a name. Just review the comments for the last 2 minutes or so and show me where he called you a name. Truth talks and boolsheet walks.’
It won’t happen because Taxpayer can’t/won’t find anything. I’ve tried to debate with him on several topics and it seems to end with him calling me names. Sad.
stands for decibels
March 10th, 2011
3:07 pm
Wish dems would just own up to wanting higher energy prices
Well, other than the loaded term “wanting” (as opposed to “acknowledging the necessity of…”), I agree.
I’ve never been shy about supporting higher excise taxes on gasoline (phased in over a reasonable length of time, of course—it is, after all, a very regressive kind of tax, hitting low-income people who have to drive pretty hard) to help pay not just for long-overdue infrastructure upgrades, but for mass transit so people won’t NEED their damn cars quite so much.
AmVet
March 10th, 2011
3:07 pm
On American Indians in South Dakota considering skirting a state ban on abortion: They “will have found something that can be more profitable than casinos, and that’s abortion clinics.” ~G. Beck
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:08 pm
“From the mouths of babes. You name caller you.’
Give it a rest, Taxpayer.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:08 pm
“On American Indians in South Dakota considering skirting a state ban on abortion: They “will have found something that can be more profitable than casinos, and that’s abortion clinics.” ~G. Beck’
Awesome!
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:08 pm
Leg Lamp,
I hope you didn’t pay too much for the fake doctor’s note. Next time buy a real health insurance policy and get a real doctor’s note.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:09 pm
“I’ve never been shy about supporting higher excise taxes on gasoline’
We already have that going on.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:09 pm
Give it a rest, Taxpayer.
Show me the way, name caller.
AmVet
March 10th, 2011
3:09 pm
“I’m a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot” Jane Russell describing herself (?)
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:09 pm
TaxPayer@3:08 pm
Grow up.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
March 10th, 2011
3:09 pm
md
March 10th, 2011
1:20 pm
“Contrary to popular opinion, the WI unions are funded by the pay earned by public sector employees. Once they are paid for their service i.e. labor, that money no longer belongs to the taxpayers.”
Sorry soco….I can’t agree with that one.
The private sector has to generate the funds to pay those dollars………those funds come directly from the taxpayers.
md
March 10th, 2011
1:46 pm
“My point is, once labor is paid for, that money belongs to that person, regardless of who paid who.”
It is the rate for that labor and benefits that is in question………the taxpayers are talking out both sides of their mouths………support the unions…..don’t want to pay taxes……..sounds like a conundrum to me.
You’re shifting the goal posts after the ball has been kicked. First, you say that public sector pay actually belongs to the taxpayers, and not the people who worked for that pay. Now, it not the pay itself, but the rate. That’s bogus,dude. If I work for Ace Hardware, when I get paid for my labor, that money is mine. It is no longer the property of Ace Hardware. Just the same, when I get paid for my job with the government, that money is now mine. It no longer belongs to the taxpayers.
The rate is something completely different and does not contribute pro or con to your first premise that public sector paychecks belongs to the taxpayers. If the taxpayers want my paycheck, then they can come do my job.
Thulsa the Doom
March 10th, 2011
3:10 pm
AmVet,
Jessie “Hymietown” Jackson?
Jessie “who hangs out with bigot Jew hater Farrakhan” Jackson
I was walking down the street at night and heard footsteps behind me. When I turned around I was relieved to see it was a white man- Jesse Jackson. Racist statement
Jessie “I’m having an out of wedlock lovechild at 55 years old with a woman who works for me” Jackson.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:10 pm
Well, it’s obvious that a few people know how to debate and argue without name calling.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:11 pm
It won’t happen because Taxpayer can’t/won’t find anything. I’ve tried to debate with him on several topics and it seems to end with him calling me names. Sad
That trash you’ve posted here today looks more like yapping.
stands for decibels
March 10th, 2011
3:11 pm
We already have that going on.
Huh? it’s been 18.4 cents per gallon for freaking ever.
The Leg Lamp is a "major award".....
March 10th, 2011
3:11 pm
AmVet
Harry Reid (D-Nev.) apologized today for referring to President Barack Obama as “light skinned” and “with no Negro dialect” in private conversations during the 2008 presidential campaign.
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:12 pm
AmVet
Did Biden ever get his Slurpee from those “Indian people” at the 7eleven?
Did Harry Reid ever find that “no Negro dialect” as he decribed Obama?
WOW
March 10th, 2011
3:12 pm
“That trash you’ve posted here today looks more like yapping.”
What trash? Again with the lies, Taxpayer.
TaxPayer
March 10th, 2011
3:12 pm
Well, it’s obvious that a few people know how to debate and argue without name calling.
And you’re not one of them, name caller. Have fun with that. Gotta run but I’ll be back, name caller.