Obama: Cap And Trade Would Cost Average American The Price Of A Postage Stamp A Day
Color me skeptical.
But Obama said the measure would cost the average American about the price of a postage stamp per day.
“It is paid for by the polluters who currently emit dangerous carbon emissions,” the president said. “It provides assistance to businesses and families as they make the gradual transition to clean energy technologies.”
A US postage stamp costs $0.44.
According to the Tax Foundation, cap and trade will cost the average US household about 2% of household income. MIT estimates the cost at about $3,100 - $4,000/year per household.
Even if we use MIT’s low estimate, and I think even the $4,000 estimate is low, we’re at an expose to Americans of $8.50/day. Seven days a week. 365 days a year.
And it’ll probably be more, because there’s a compounding effect. The printer that prints a book you might buy will have to pay a cap and trade tax. The company that moves that book from the printer to the distributor will have to pay a carbon tax. The company that moves the book from the distributor to the retailer will have to pay a carbon tax. And, if the retailer you’re shopping at happens to be online, the company that delivers the book to your door will have to pay the carbon tax. And you will pay that carbon tax for all of those businesses as it will be built into the price of your book.
The same thing goes for pretty much every product you can think of. And all of that is on top of increased energy costs. Remember that Obama himself said that cap and trade would probably bankrupt the coal industry. Also remember that coal is the cheapest form of electricity available, and provides roughly 51% of the power for our national power grid. If coal goes bankrupt, or becomes significantly more expensive, that expense will be passed on to you.
As will the added expense of producing natural gas. Propane. Gasoline. Diesel.
If you think all of that expense a cap and trade carbon tax would add to the economy will end up only costing you the price of a postage stamp a day I’ve got a nice bridge I’d like to sell you.
