Waxmen-Markey Rebate Scam

Its almost as bad as Obama's make believe 600,000 jobs saved. Its promising rebates to lower income families as a form of political cover for their disaster known as Waxmen-Markey. The rebates themselves will hardly cover the regressive costs of Cap and Trade, but this isn't about helping people, this about providing a talking point as political cover for the left:

WASHINGTON – Low-income families will receive hundreds of dollars a year to help pay higher energy bills if Congress enacts the first-ever limits on the gases blamed for global warming, according to a new analysis.But it is unclear just how much more those families will have to pay for energy.

A Congressional Budget Office analysis of the cost of global warming legislation working its way through the House estimates that low-income families could initially receive $161-$359 in credits or rebates, if the bill becomes law. That amount could rise to $282-$628 by 2019, depending on the family's size.

The money would come from the government auctioning off pollution permits to companies that release climate-altering gases. The amount of permits that will be sold will increase over time and they will become more expensive, generating $846 billion from 2010-2019, the analysis says.The bulk of that money — $693 billion — would be given away as free permits to companies and states to ease costs. The remainder will pay for research, the energy tax credits and rebates, and a worker assistance program that will provide benefits including lost wages and health insurance to people who lose their jobs because of the limits placed on global warming pollution.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who is sponsoring the bill along with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., called it a win-win Monday, pointing out that it could actually reduce the federal deficit by a total of $24 billion over the next 10 years. Over that decade, however, the deficit is expected to total $9.3 trillion"The Waxman-Markey bill will get our planet out of the red, while helping to put our budget back in black," Markey said in a statement.

Its Obama logic spending trillions more will actually reduce the deficit! In the real world here are the costs for average Americans:

Illustrative Example Showing Increase in Average Household(Slide 45 from the CBO report on the economic cost of cap and trade)

Costs from a 15 Percent Decrease in Carbon Emissions

Income Brackets( The first number is average dollar amount in 2006 dollars, the second is cost increase as a percentage of income.)
Lowest
680$, 3.3%
Second
880$, 2.9%
Middle
1,160$ ,2.8%
Fourth
1, 500$, 2.7%
Highest
2,180 $1.7%

You will notice how the burden will affect working and middle class in relation to the affluent. The democrats will of course use the rebate as a way to blackmail people into voting for them. make them dependent and scare them into thinking the GOP will take it away from you.