Iain Murray is a climate change skeptic (many of us aren’t so much), blogger for National Review, and is probably smarter than we are.  Now ordinarily we don’t associate with that sort of person, especially people who are smarter than we are, but we’ve struck up a sorta virtual acquaintance with Murray through Twitter, and he seems to be pretty decent for all that.  When he’s not being a knowitall, he enjoys old school paper roleplaying games.

Today, geekery aside, Murray is performing a valuable public service, in real time, illustrating just how awful your Congress is.  Amidst all of the media attention on celebrity deaths, the House of Representatives is debating, and about to vote on, a “cap and trade” bill for energy / carbon dioxide policy.  Murray is covering it second by second on Twitter.

Considering the state of the economy, and that a rider amendment containing 300 extra pages no one voting has actually read was introduced this morning, might it be desirable to have a public debate after the bodies are buried?  Nah.  You don’t need to know about that.  For that matter, neither does your congressman.  There’s pork to be eaten, and bill sponsor Henry Waxman is handing it out.  Nor do your media.  Michael and Farrah are dead!

• Rep Louie Goehmert says he hasn’t seen the extra 300 pages of the bill and wants to know how he can get it. This is a shocking indictment
• when both Greenpeace and Club for Growth oppose a climate bill, probably a good idea to stop and think about it
• Also, Waxman doesn’t think #Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth are leading environmental groups.
• Everyone who’s said they will vote for should now troop up to the microphone and demand more. Waxman will give it to them.
• Here comes Jackson Lee for her handout…
• They’re queuing up to get Waxman to give them more taxpayer money! Every US citizen needs to see this travesty.
• Fox News says won’t do anything on cap and trade, cos it’s all Michael Jackson.

And so on and so forth.  Anyway, it’s a remarkable one man performance on Twitter.  Whether you’ll pay an extra [how much?] a month next year for power and heat is being debated on the floor of Congress, and, if you’re in any industry that depends on large quantities of electricity, your job.  For a bill that contains 300 pages of legislation your legislator (unless he’s Henry Waxman) didn’t read.

Laws and sausages.

Last 5 posts by Patrick

• "There Are No Second Acts In American Lives." - February 9th, 2010
• "It Is A Barren Wasteland, Riddled With Fire, Ash, And Dust. The Very Air You Breathe Is A Poisonous Fume." - February 3rd, 2010
• Dear CNN, Reuters, New York Times, Fox, Et. Al. - January 29th, 2010
• State Of The Union - January 27th, 2010
• Read The Whole Thing - January 26th, 2010