The previous post dealt with the Denver Post’s editorial board’s take on the Climate Security Act, S.2191. One of their column writers, David Harsanyi, wrote a column today at the Denver Post about the same bill. David is one of many conservative columnists at the Post that gets space, both in print and in pixels, to share his views.
One of the pillars of his argument today is a familiar one to anybody who has heard right-wing talking points in the past 30 years: the government can’t govern. Which is exactly why Republicans lost control of Congress and a number of state governorships and state legislatures in 2006. And it’s exactly why they’ll lost even more seats this year as well as the White House. The American public is tired of hearing how government can’t do x, y or z. The public knows it can and wants to hear instead candidates’ plans to get government to work for them again.
Then, another big right-wing boogeyman talking point: “de facto taxes”. Interesting that Harsanyi brings up taxes in the climate change realm. I can’t remember seeing a piece by him written on the Iraq occupation taxes that are sucking the Social Security fund dry. Or how about all the de facto taxes that your phone company charges, or your bank, etc. Those are alright because they’re levied by corporations, not by the government. Guess which entity we the people have control over? Here is what it realistically boils down to: pay a little now to introduce a carbon market or pay everything you have and more in the future when the climate system shifts and we’re forced to deal with millions of people affected by them. Harsanyi mentions that the Wall Street Journal estimates the auctions of the credits will net $6.7 trillion for government coffers by 2050 before launching into his anti-investment talking point. Once again, it’s interesting that the $3 trillion the Iraq occupation is costing taxpayers doesn’t warrant the same level of attention, isn’t it?
Much more below the fold.
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