Obama Pressures Democrats into Energy Tax

(Originally posted on NRO - The Corner by my husband)

The president called Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in for a little chat this morning about the "cap-and-trade" energy tax. The so-called moderates on the committee appear to have caved already, getting a couple of tiny concessions on other items in the bill. So it looks like they'll vote the bill out of committee, despite the extra energy costs of $2000 or more it will impose on their constituents. Of course, the Senate doesn't look like it will make any moves on increasing energy prices this year, so the question has to be asked why the president was willing to spend political capital on this. The answer is probably that the cap-and-trade tax is actually a vital part of the president's healthcare plan, in that it will provide the revenues to pay for the plan. So it is important to get that principle established now. The next step comes with the Blue Dogs and other energy-state Democrats. It will be interesting to see how close to the fire the president holds their feet.