3.31.2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt today issued the following statement after Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) announced the Democrats’ plan to increase energy taxes on American families by an additional $3,100 a year:
“The Democrats’ ruse of an energy plan is nothing more than a regressive tax being offered when families, small businesses and farmers in Missouri can least afford it. Their proposal will cost any family that turns on a light switch, drives a car, plugs in an appliance or purchases an American made item an extra $3,100 a year.
“Unfortunately, the damage this bill does to our economy doesn’t stop with increased taxes. American manufacturers could be forced out of business because of the unfair advantage new government regulations in this provision give foreign companies.”
NOTE: A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study of cap-and-trade policies less aggressive than those Waxman outlined today estimates out of pocket costs of about $3,128 per household nationwide. Cap-and-trade is a regressive tax structure on anyone using energy or anyone using a product that required energy to produce. The proposal forces companies to purchase “offsets” and pass those costs along to consumers.
This type of energy policy is especially damaging to states like Missouri where almost 90 percent of electricity is coal generated and where consumers will pay even more than the average American under the Democrat plan.