New House Energy Chair Uses Climate as Cover for More Spending
One result of the 2018 elections when the Democratic Party won control of the House is this 30-year member’s appointment to be chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee: Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
He says he plans to attack the Trump administration for denying that man-made climate change even exists. His emphasis will be on the Environmental Protection Agency which has rolled back Obama-era regulations governing certain fossil fuels.
Chairman Pallone says that his committee will prioritize hearings and legislation to put the country on a path to a 100% clean economy. Like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ Green New Deal? Yes, but with a longer time horizon than AOC’s 2030 for the end of the world. Pallone says we have until 2050 as the point of no return. “This is an ambitious goal, I don’t want to suggest that it isn’t, and there are a lot of different ways of dealing with it,” Pallone told The Hill.
Pallone and his committee say they will hold hearings with labor, business and environmental groups to create a plan that all Democrats can support by the end of this year. No doubt they’ll be checking with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $16.3 trillion plan for a Green New Deal to overhaul the nation’s economy and eliminate fossil fuel use by mid-century. This brings us to the issue of costs and spending.
Since 1988 Pallone has been in the Congress spending like crazy so another few trillions shouldn’t phase him. We checked his record as scored by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) and the Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), both over-spending watchdogs. Click on the names for voting details.
NTU gives him a score significantly below average qualifying for a grade of “F.” This failing grade places Pallone well within their “Big Spender” category.
CAGW gave him a “D” for being “Hostile to Taxpayers” for
Let’s look at the philosophy of the spenders by checking with the Progressive rating group, Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) which selects 20 votes it considers the most important during a session. Each member receives 5 points for voting with ADA and receives no points if voting against ADA or not voting. The total possible is 100. Pallone scored 95% in their latest report.
For the Conservative rating click on Heritage Action to see the votes that earned him a 0 –Zero!— for any votes “…holding lawmakers accountable for their promises to advance principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.”
Another useful score is from the Club for Growth which monitors the voting behavior of members of Congress as it affects the economy. Taxes, limited spending, deficits, free trade, abusive lawsuits, tort reform, school choice, Social Security reform, deregulation and anything that affects pro-growth policies. Pallone scores a lowly lifetime 9% –not exactly a pro-growth representative. Few career pols are that concerned about a vibrant national economy as their primary goal is getting reelected and satisfying the lobbyists who make that possible. That’s how they protect their own personal economy.
Pallone is one more proof of the need for limiting terms of our representatives. Citizen reps will go to Congress for a few years to accomplish good things for their constituents by following their oaths to uphold the Constitution and then return to live under the laws they helped pass. Our Founders called it “rotation in office.” We need that again. Desperately.
