Re: The Hidden Climate Tax

This post was written by my husband for NRO - The Corner.

According to the budget preview document, the revenues from the hidden climate tax will be split between $15bn for alternative energy pork and about $52 billion per year to help pay for the Making Work Pay tax cut/welfare check of $800 for "95 percent of all American workers."

How much will cap and trade cost households in increased energy costs? Well, we know from a CBO study last year that a 15 percent reduction in emissions from 1998 levels would cost each household at least $660. That target is about 25 percent more stringent than the budget target, which is simply a return to 1990 emission levels by 2020 (far less than environmentalists demand). So we can apply simple arithmetic to estimate that the current budget cap and trade program will cost each income quintile $510, $660, $870, $1125 and $1635 (in 2006 dollars, slightly more in nominal values) respectively.

So the tax cut for 95 percent of working Amercians is going to be significantly offset by hiking energy prices in order to pay for it in the first place. Sheesh. Talk about a shell game.