Democrats undermining Obama

Dear MoveOn member,

Remember when Dick Cheney let oil and coal lobbyists craft our nation's energy policy behind closed doors?

Barack Obama may have thrown them out of the White House—but they've relocated to Capitol Hill, with the help of some powerful conservative Democrats in Congress.

In weeks of often secret negotiations over this year's energy bill, these Democrats managed to not just weaken the legislation, but even to slip in language that would prevent the Obama administration from cleaning up coal plants and oil refineries.

We can't let a few conservative Democrats get away with undermining Obama's clean energy jobs plan. So we're fighting back with a massive campaign to fix the bill and expose members of Congress who are undermining Obama—but we need to know if we have the resources to pull it off.

Can you chip in $25 to help out?

Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, led by progressive Democrats Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, passed a huge energy bill aimed at creating clean energy jobs.

But unfortunately, a few conservatives on the committee were determined to weaken the bill—and working behind closed doors, they did some real damage.

And what's worse—they didn't just work with Republicans to weaken the bill, they're also trying to tie Obama's hands so he can't take action on his own. The latest version of the legislation would take away the Environmental Protection Agency's existing authority to curb global warming pollution from power plants, oil refineries, and other industrial sources.

Why does that matter? Because the Obama administration is already taking its own steps towards building a clean energy economy. The White House recently announced a bold plan to make cars use less gas—and the EPA is considering whether to propose new rules that would clean up coal plants and oil refineries.1

These steps could help move us toward cleaner, cheaper sources of energy and create millions of clean energy jobs—but not if Congress pulls the rug out from under President Obama before he can act.

We're ramping up a major effort to strengthen the clean energy jobs bill and make sure it doesn't block Obama's efforts. Can you chip in with a contribution of $25? Click here:

Thanks for all you do.

–Adam, Anna, Stephen, Peter and the rest of the team


My response to the MoveOn, We Don't Wanna Hear Your Opinion, Plebe:

Oh no! The evil Conservative Democrats are undermining King Obama! AIEEE! Quick, quick! Send us money so we can "fight back" and make the Democrats see the light!

You people crack me up. Do you realize that the missives I receive from you are exactly the same (in content, just swap a few words around) as the missives I get from the National Rifle Association?

Yep. Looks like you're both using the same marketing people to stir up the rabble to get them to send you money.

I have two questions about your email:
1) What green jobs, exactly, are going to be created by this bill? Really, just cause Obama says that they're gonna be doesn't mean they are. Where are the, specifically, within this bill you're so anxious to get passed?

2) Will those green jobs that are supposed to be created raise all of our incomes enough that we'll be able to afford the energy we use (most electricity comes from coal, you ninnies)? Obviously, these new requirements of the coal industry are going to raise costs. Probably considerably, if any of the people who analyze these things are right.

Could those reasons be why your Democrats aren't willing to pass Obama's little plan as-is?

Hmm...