More evidence for the value of requiring all legislation to be voted on in Congress to be posted beforehand on the Internet – Eagle-eyed readers of the massive – 400+ pages – Paulson-Dodd-Pelosi Wall Street bailout have found a provision that will effectively establish a carbon tax. Newsbusters’ Matthew Vadum has details here, including a link to the full text of the bailout proposal that passed the Senate last night.
If the economy is in such dire straits that failure to pass the $700 billion bailout could result in a deep recession or even a depression, as we’ve been told over and over for two weeks, how is imposing a carbon tax going to help? As Vadum notes:
“If you look at page 180 of the 451-page monster bailout bill that easily passed the Senate yesterday), you will see that it includes at Section 116 language about the tax treatment of ‘industrial source carbon dioxide.’ It also provides, at Section 117, for a ‘carbon audit of the tax code.’
“What could a provision about the tax treatment of ‘industrial source carbon dioxide’ and another provision about doing a ‘carbon audit’ of the tax code possibly have to do with restoring confidence in Wall Street’s troubled credit markets? The answer: NOTHING.”
Had the bailout text not been posted on the Internet, it would likely be weeks before anybody other than the provision’s advocates would have noticed its presence in the bailout text. This also highlights the importance of requiring a 72-hour waiting period for public examination prior to any congressional vote.
Vadum suggests an explanation for the presence of such an un-related provision – Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is a former chairman of the Nature Conservancy and his wife is a former Nature Conservancy board member. Foundation Watch has details on that connection of this increasingly controversial Bush appointee here.
