Late Night Grab Bag

by Steve

Before heading off to bed tonight, I wanted to pass along several stories for you to chew on, some of which I may write further about in the coming days.

Climate Change

To my slight surprise, there will be a bipartisan push for an emissions ceiling bill in this session. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Arlen Specter have lined up the support of unions and even power companies like Duke Energy behind a bill that can be the impetus for climate change cap-and-trade legislation and debate in this session. The environmental community is split on the bill because it doesn’t go far enough, so the question is whether or not it is better to at least start the debate now and then push for a better bill in 2009 with more Democrats and a Democratic president. House Commerce Committee chairman John Dingell will unveil his own bill this fall that aims to actually kill any legislation on climate change by scaring people with a fifty cent-a-gallon gas tax increase.

Capital Gains and Dividend Tax Cuts Oversold

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released a new analysis today which debunks the right wing claim that Bush’s capital gains and dividend tax cuts have been a significant contributor to the economy’s growth over the last four years.

Hillary On Iraq

Hillary gave a major address on Iraq today in Iowa, and it was a pretty good speech. No, she didn’t apologize for her 2002 vote, and she never will. But it was a tough speech and laid out a plan on what she would do as president if Bush dumps this problem on his successor.

Oil

The Financial Times reported today that the International Energy Agency is predicting an oil shortage in the coming years as demand outpaces supplies. And yet the United States has done nothing under the Bush/Cheney cabal to protect our economic security in this area for nearly eight years.