A call to action

I just sent the following email to my Congressman, Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark.:

Please vote against the Waxman-Markey bill tomorrow. Its effects on Arkansas's and the nation's economy will be disastrous and its environmental benefits will be negligible.
I firmly believe that no member of Congress who supports this legislation will be re-electable.

I'm apparently not alone:

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today announced that its members have flooded Capitol Hill offices with more than 20,500 strongly-worded e-mails urging members of Congress to defeat the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill. The group has distributed e-mail action alerts to its members nationwide over the last month and members have responded aggressively. The CCAGW members’ message to their elected officials reads:

“What this plan really will do is place severe regulatory burdens on domestic industry that will ultimately drive up the prices I pay for electricity, gasoline, natural gas, and virtually every product I purchase that uses fossil fuels in its manufacture or transportation.

“The Heritage Foundation has estimated this cap-and-trade tax could increase my family's energy bill by $1,500 annually!

“What's more, the Waxman-Markey bill will hit me not only as a consumer, but as a taxpayer, as it significantly grows the size and cost of government. By requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a greenhouse gas (GHG) registry, create a GHG emission allowance transfer system, and set emission allowances from 2012-2050, this cap-and-trade scheme empowers bureaucrats to dictate virtually every aspect of commercial and individual energy use. It also opens the door to the potential for political manipulation and corruption.

“I see very little environmental pay-off for the enormous costs this bill will impose on my family, American businesses, and our economy. Again, I urge you to reject the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill.”

“Members of Congress should be under no illusions,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. “The responsiveness we have seen from our members indicates that American taxpayers are viscerally opposed to this legislation. They recognize it for what it is: a job killer, a massive new drag on an already weakened economy, a down payment on a massive wasteful new bureaucracy, and a crushing new financial burden on working Americans and businesses. The time has come to reject the Washington gamesmanship and the backroom dealing. Members of Congress who are sitting on the fence or who think they can bargain their way to a safe ‘yes’ vote on Waxman-Markey must put sound policy-making above partisan politics and defeat this bill,” concluded Schatz.

CCAGW is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

This bill is the poster child for Deranged and Economically Destructive Legislation.

Please, please, please phone or email your Congressional Representative and ask them to vote against it.