The newspaper also says the eight Republican members of Congress who gave Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama a victory should be ousted in 2010.
From the editorial:
A switch of four Republican votes would have defeated Waxman-Markey, the Democrats' global warming legislation. But like the Clinton Btu tax, the bill could die in the Senate and turn the House over to the GOP.Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.
Early in the Clinton administration, the House passed by an almost identical 219-213 vote the infamous Btu tax — a levy on each unit of energy consumed. The tax would have been assessed on the energy content of all fossil fuels as measured in Btu, or British thermal units.It died in the Senate and was used as a campaign issue as the GOP regained control of the House for the first time in 40 years.
Far from being morose, the GOP mood after Friday's vote was almost giddy. "On the floor, it felt like we won," said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma. After the final gavel fell, Republicans were chanting, "Btu, Btu."
"A lot of Democrat members got burned on that vote," (House GOP Leader John) Boehner said. Something tells us they, and eight Republicans, may get burned on this one too.
Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS
