The Senate has had since June to think about the Waxman-Markey “National Energy Tax” bill and will soon have to vote on the measure as they reconvene this week.
In Virginia, Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner have certainly heard from constituents who oppose the bill.
On Thursday, activists gathered in Richmond and Virginians all summer have been encouraged to call their legislators by such groups as the National Federation of Independent Business and the National Association of Manufacturers who showed ads like the following throughout the Commonwealth:
This “encouragement” has led to Cap-and-Trade supporters calling the opposition to Waxman-Markey the new buzz word of 2009: “Astroturfing“.
This, of course, despite polling showing that more respondents are opposed to the bill than for it.
Without devolving into name-calling and diminishing what liberals once called the “highest form of patriotism” (dissent), let’s hope our Senators are looking at the true impact of this bill on jobs, industry, reliance on foreign oil, and more.
Politically, it’s interesting to note that Rep. Tom Perriello (D-5th) voted in favor of the bill, along with the rest of the Democratic delegation from Virginia except for Rep. Glenn Nye (D-2nd); Nye voted against the bill, while claiming he was for it. If these votes are any indication, given the pressure Nye received from constituents on the bill, it would be surprising if Webb and Warner voted against it.
