NRSC Response to Boxer Cap and Tax Bill

Thursday, 05 November 2009 12:16

In case you missed the Senate Environment Committee vote this morning, Barbara Boxer successfully rammed her costly cap-and-tax bill through a committee vote without any Republican support.  Notably, Boxer also lost support from a key committee moderate in her own Party, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT).

As Reuters notes today:

Baucus' vote against the bill reflected the difficulties ahead in crafting a measure that would attract the 60 votes needed for passage by the Senate. As an influential moderate Democrat, Baucus laid out changes he would seek, including a weaker carbon-reduction target. Other Midwestern and Southern senators from states heavily reliant on coal will seek their own changes, which could upset liberals now supporting the bill.

The San Francisco Examiner also reports:

But even if health care were completed, it would be nearly impossible for the Senate to pass the Kerry-Boxer bill, with Democrats of all leanings complaining about its potential to hurt the economy and calling for significant modifications. Taking up the bill next year will likely prove to be even more politically treacherous, as 19 Democrats are up for re-election and several of them, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., are considered quite vulnerable.

According to the Committee’s Ranking Member, Barbara Boxer actually broke her own Committee rules in voting on the bill today. As reported by The Hill:

The Senate Enviromental and Public Works Comittee's [sic] ranking member on Thursday accused chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) of breaking the panel's rules by passing climate change legislation this morning. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today on Fox News said that committee rules dictate that at least two members of the minority must be present when meeting. Boxer held a vote on the legislation, which passed 10-1, but no Republicans were present for the vote.

In reporting on this issue today, I hope you’ll consider the following quote from the NRSC:

“Once again Barbara Boxer’s shrill partisanship has turned away moderates in her own Party and killed any opportunity to work across Party lines. Next year Barbara Boxer will be forced to explain to voters why she decided to break her own committee’s rules in order to ram a contentious bill through the Senate that even members of her own Party deemed too costly.” – Amber Wilkerson Marchand, NRSC spokeswoman

Dem Senators On The Climate Bill

SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-MT): “I have some concerns about the overall direction of the bill … I have serious reservations with the depth of the mid-term reduction target in the bill and the lack of preemption of the Clean Air Act.” (“Senate Hearing Kicks Off Climate Bill,” The Wall Street Journal, 10/27/09)

· “Senator Max Baucus, The Montana Democrat Who Is The Second-Ranking Member Of The Environment Committee And Chairman Of The Finance Committee, Warned His Fellow Democrats That The Kerry-Boxer Bill Went Too Far And Could End Up Delaying Any Action On Global Warming For Months Or Years.” (“White House Steps Up Climate Efforts,” The New York Times, 10/27/09)

· “The Legislation Before Us Today Is About Our Economy,” Mr. Baucus Told The Committee. “Montana, With Our Resource-Based Agriculture And Tourism Economies, Cannot Afford The Unmitigated Impacts Of Climate Change. But we also cannot afford the unmitigated effects of climate change legislation.” (“White House Steps Up Climate Efforts,” The New York Times, 10/27/09)

SEN. JOHN ROCKEFELLER (D-WV): “The climate legislation proposed today by Senators Boxer and Kerry is a disappointing step in the wrong direction and I am against it. Requiring 20 percent emission reductions by 2020 is unrealistic and harmful – it is simply not enough time to deploy the carbon capture and storage (CCS) and energy efficiency technologies we need.  Period.” (Sen. John Rockefeller, Press Release, 9/30/09)

SEN. JON TESTER (D-MT): “I’m Not Real Happy With [Kerry-Boxer].” “’I'd like to see what Maria's got. I'm not real happy with [Kerry-Boxer],’ said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) last week. ‘I don't want something real, real complicated.’” (“The Plots Thicken In Senate Climate Deliberations,” Climate Wire, 10/26/09)

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): “The bill introduced by Sens. Boxer and Kerry highlights the need to take climate change seriously; I appreciate their hard work on this measure. But we must work to strengthen the legislation to improve the competitiveness of American manufacturers, invest in new clean energy technologies, and target more relief to consumers in coal states.” (Sen. Sherrod Brown, Press Release, 9/30/09)

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