The Carbon Tax -- Don't Let Politically Motivated Opposition Spoil Our Path to Environmental Leadership

I've heard a lot tossed around the last few weeks about the carbon tax that Gordon Campbell and his BC Liberals crammed through the Legislature with minimal debate. Of course, I think that debate should have been allowed to continue, but probably for different reasons than one would assume.

I am fully and completely for the carbon tax.

There, I said it.

Everyone hates it, and I can understand why with the way the whole debate has been framed by the media and opponents, but I'm here to tell you why this is a good thing, and why it will make BC better, provide jobs, and stabilize our economy for decades.

Ok, bad news first. Yes, your gas prices will go up.....by a whopping 2.4 cents. Gas is already rising 5-7 cents a week as is, so realistically, the uproar over that portion of the carbon tax is a little overblown.

The main problem I can see is with heating. This is going to be more of a cost impact than anything seen at the pump. An average house in the suburbia around Vancouver is already paying far more than they should to heat their homes (because Gordon Campbell sold our public Gas utility to an American conglomerate, who has since doubled, and will soon triple the rates).

This is where what seems to be the most popular new term in Canadian politics comes into play: 'Revenue Neutral'.

Obviously the meaning of the term is that even though it is a tax increase, the government will not be collecting any new tax dollars off of it, as there will be cuts and dividends in other areas. It is a tax shift. You have already seen the $100 Carbon Tax dividend cheque in your mailbox if you're a BC'er, and there is more to come in the form of tax cuts.

We are still paying the same amount of money overall, and all the revenue collected from that extra 2.4 cents a litre is going to be directed towards developing alternative fuels, green technology, and breaking the province, the country, and maybe even beyond from our addiction to fossil fuels as a whole.

There is a bigger picture than just at the pump here people. We are doing our part to ensure that in a decade or two, there doesn't even need to be a pump at all.

Directing huge chunks of money towards these technologies means there will be plenty of new 'Green Collar' jobs created as well. Think of what we can do with all that money and people power put to good use.

Imagine if we can bridge the gap and actually become a world leader in green technology? We can sustain ourselves in the new world we are seeing the edges of today. The world is moving green, and if BC can be on the forefront of that, we can make ourselves, and Canada, into serious powerhouses.

The other day, I read that within 7 years, Mercedes-Benz will no longer be producing cars that run off of gasoline. 7 years! Unbelievable. This is the world we will be living in soon, and by taking this brave step, and being the first in North America to introduce a carbon tax, Gordon Campbell and his Liberals have taken BC down a potentially prosperous new path.

The NDP, provincially, and federally actually, now that Stephane Dion has introduced his federal carbon tax, are opposed, saying that everyone shouldn't be hit, and any taxes on carbon emissions should heavily target corporations and companies who are the worst offenders. I am more than fine with that, but it doesn't mean people driving SUVs and H2's and cars from 1973 shouldn't be hit as well. This is an 'across the board' problem that needs to be dealt with, you guessed it, across the board.

I find it odd that a party so focused on environmental initiatives as Jack Layton's would take a stand against something this progressive and dedicated to the movement away from fossil fuels, but with him, and with Carole James here provincially, the issue isn't really the carbon tax, it's that they both need some kind of uniting issue for their parties to draw in votes in quickly approaching elections.

Provincially, Carole James didn't have a leg to stand on, and did not have a single uniting issue, until now, with this carbon tax. Same goes for Jack. So while they will push on, decrying that the Liberals, provincially, and nationally, are hitting ordinary Canadians with a tax increase, their words will likely never ring so hollow. Both have betrayed their ideological beliefs for political posturing.

It is by no means the first or last time something like that will happen in politics, but for me personally, as someone that has voted NDP every time I have marked a ballot, it is especially disingenuous.

I just hope the larger picture is seen in this whole debate, because if the argument is going to be framed as just a jump in gas prices, the larger message, and the larger plan as a whole, will be lost, and 10-20 years from now, we'll be watching another country taking the mantle (and the revenue) as the place to go for green.

Hillaryis44.com Has Gone Over the Deep End

I thought it would be an educating trip to look over at the extreme Hillary camp after her concession speech yesterday, and see their viewpoint on the general election going forward.

The main extreme pro-Hillary, anti-Obama site has got to be Hillaryis44.com, especially after mydd.com has united behind the choice of the Democratic Party, as they are, in the end, Democrats. The Hillaryis44 people have been saying they were going to not only vote for McCain but try in an extremely proactive way to disrupt and derail the Obama campaign in the name of Hillary.

But now that Hillary has stepped aside, and endorsed their most hated foe, the Hillaryis44 people have gone down a different, far more disturbing track.

Now, the main message is that the Democratic Party has betrayed its roots.

Yes, you heard it right, the Joe Lieberman argument is in full steam.

The main message in the first page is a diatribe by a self-described former 'Reagan Democrat' named Taylor Marsh, who goes off on Obama for betraying the Democratic Party :

I’m an American first. I will not support my party no matter what, or someone in my party who is doing what I believe is horrendously destructive things to the ideals I hold dear.

I have no intention of stuffing my beliefs back in a bag in the name of party unity. On this I stand with the Founders who weren’t all that crazy about political affiliation. I have absolutely no intention of backing someone who believes Republicans were the party of ideas for the last 10-15 years.

As a Reagan Democrat, I know that dog whistle, baby, and I’m running in the other direction. Someone who takes Democrats for granted in order to reach out to independents and Republicans to get the Democratic nomination holds no sway over me. It’s also not my job to unify the Democratic party.

So apparently betraying everything the Democratic Party stands for and voting for the Republican in the fall is a way to...protect the Democratic Party's values? Huh?

His last line is a doozy :

I’m a proud Democrat, but I’m an American first. If you want unity you’ve come to the wrong place.

Hmmm, can I get some extra Lieberman sauce on these sour apples?

And as a final coup de gras, this is what convinced me that these people have literally lost it :

...a few words of advice to Hillary: If you lie down with dogs you wake up with fleas.

They are now attacking the woman they so fervently worked for because she has the gall to try and swallow her pride, admit her defeat and unite the Party to defeat the Republicans in the fall.

This line also came about a paragraph after this :

November will come soon enough and we will vote for Hillary; No one else but Hillary. We will encourage others to do the same.

We won’t be alone in that decision- vote for Hillary - Not Big Media, Not Big Media Tool Obama. We will also NOT vote for any candidate who endorsed Obama over Hillary during the primary season. We will encourage as many Democrats as possible to follow our lead.

You love Hillary and the Democratic Party so much that you will not only will you work against a Democrat in the White House in the fall, you will also work to prevent a Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Awesome guys, thumbs up.

I wish Hillary had directly called out this sect of her supporters in her speech yesterday, which was actually my motivation for thinking it wasn't up to snuff, and told them in very distinct terms that going against Obama and the Democratic Party is a betrayal of everything she has stood for in this campaign. Hopefully she will soon enough, but with the mood already at this level, and threats already being tossed out there, I don't think it will matter.

These types of sites, as well as 'Hillary Clinton Supporters for John McCain' need to be completely ignored, and not flamed, cited, or referenced ever again. This is the reason why I am writing this diary, not to increase their hits or start a war like mydd and DKos experienced. Not to divide, but to unite, against this kind of nonsensical crap, just as my candidate would do, and just as their former one did in the end.

Cross Posted on Daily Kos under the name 'Red Star'

Barack Obama, 2008 Democratic Party Nominee for President of the United States

I know I'm a little late with this, but as anyone can tell by the lack of posts, I've been busy.

On Tuesday night, we all witnessed a piece of history. We watched something unfold that even 3 months ago you probably would have said was impossible, and for the entire history of the United States, was impossible.

A black man will lead a major party into an election, with a very good chance of being the first man of color to actually take the mantle of President.

I remember the night that Obama won the first primary in Iowa, I was watching the results roll in on CNN and heard Wolf Blitzer say this about the historic victory that started the tidal wave, "This is only the first contest, and this doesn't mean a thing." I was taken aback, but it set a good standard for the quality and class of the media so far in this cycle. Next came Rev. Wright, Flag Pins and Ayers, and attempt after attempt to drive this campaign towards the meaningless gutter issues, by the classy media and an even classier Hillary Clinton, who was all too eager to go dirty the second she faltered.

But through it all, Barack Obama was never tripped up, he never strayed from his values, no matter how tempting it must have been to take shot after shot back at Hillary and really blow her hypocrisy and lying into the mainstream argument. He was class all the way. He gave her the benefit of the doubt, he let things slide that could have killed her early, and he re-directed things back to the issues whenever possible.

He never got that courtesy in return, but it didn't seem to matter. From the start Barack Obama didn't take lobbyist and PAC money, and he hasn't to this day. While John McCain sold his Maverick values for a staff full of lobbyists and Hillary sold her soul to anyone that would cash a cheque, be it corporate interests or not.

McCain so far, frankly, has looked well out of his depth, and like a complete fool during the free time he enjoyed in the last few months while Democrats were still battling. Mixing up Sunni and Shia Islam 4 separate times, saying the US was down to pre-surge levels in Iraq when they are not, flip flopping on things we had as a hallmark, like opposition to torture, the list goes on and on.

If anyone caught his speech on the night Obama clinched the nomination, you know how terrible he is going to look when put toe-to-toe with Barack. If you haven't seen it, well, gosh golly, I happen to have it right here :



McCain has challenged Obama to a series of 10 Town Hall-style debates across the country. I have heard the yay and the nay arguments on this, the nay being that McCain just wants to suck off Obama's star power, and get larger audiences than he has now, but I think the positives of making McCain look like a fool in real time outweigh anything he might gain.

The Obama camp has said they would like more of an open style than what the McCain campaign has designed, which of course would be ideal, as McCain isn't very good on his feet (or actually that good reading off a teleprompter, see video above). Even if they can't get that kind of forum, I think anything where McCain has to stand side-by-side, or on stools, or behind podiums with Obama is already a win in my books, because every single time, McCain will look like shit, guaranteed.

I think the real race for the Presidency just ended, as McCain should be like high school football next to the Super Bowl we just watched unfold. Hillary was ten times the campaigner and the opponent John McCain ever could be. They both would have walloped him in the fall.

I would like to salute Hillary Clinton, because she did break a glass ceiling for women, just as Obama broke it for minorities. She did receive millions of votes, even if she didn't win the popular vote, as she is claiming, as you cannot count a state where Obama wasn't on the ballot, and then not count caucus states where estimates are half a million people or more participated in.

She had moments where I wanted to throw my shoe at the TV, like during the ABC debate/debacle when she said Ayers was a legitimate talking point, or when she tacked "Not that I know of..." onto the end of an answer that should have been unequivocal about Obama being a Muslim, or when she said on more than one occasion that McCain and her had passed the leader test but Obama had just made a speech in 2002.

Her surrogates, and her husband stirred the race pot, subtly, and not-so-subtly. She let the campaign be run by a man that didn't understand the modern campaign, and bungled even management of an old-style campaign, Mark Penn. She disparaged states, didn't count others, and basically took February off and let Obama take the momentum, which he never gave back.

She was groundbreaking, but she made her share of mistakes, and had the misfortune of running against the most dynamic and powerful candidate since JFK.

When these campaigns were launched, it was seen as an inevitability that she would be the nominee. I knew of Obama earlier than he hit the mainstream and was a fan instantly, never thinking he would actually do this thing. It's an amazing feeling to watch someone, support them to your wits end, defend them like family even though you've never met and don't even share the same citizenship, and then have them pull off the most unexpected political victory in history.

So, hats off to Hillary, and I hope she doesn't fade away. She should stick in the Senate and help Obama pass Universal Health Care, there's the legacy she's looking for. Maybe the governorship of NY? Or a higher post in the Senate? Either way, she will not be President, and I don't mean now. This was a one shot deal for her, and that is why she fought so hard.

She will be 68 years old when Obama's theoretical two terms end, leaving little space to run again. Also, she has probably put many voters off her for a very long time. Hillary will fade to the background after Saturday, when she is officially ending her campaign, endorsing Obama and advising her supporters and donors to do the same.

The Democratic Party is Barack Obama's to lead now. He has started, instructing the DNC not to accept lobbyist funds, and pulling rogue 'Democrat' Joe Lieberman, by the hand, over to the corner in the Senate chamber to talk some sense into him for supporting McCain so vocally. That is what a leader does.

It will only grow from here, but a movement and an election that will shape this generation, my generation's future, is fully under way.

It began during Barack Obama's stirring speech on Tuesday from the site where the GOP will hold their convention in the summer. I was standing at my patio door, thinking, as I did during the Philadelphia speech on race, that I should remember where I was when this all went down, so that I can tell my kids what it was like to watch President Obama on his road to the White House.