House Republican: Cap and Trade Almost Dead

During this afternoon’s GOP Whip Team blogger conference call, Rep. Jim Jordan (OH) said that cap and trade is almost dead. When democrats went home for the summer they received an ear full from constituents and had to back away from their support of the legislation. Mr. Jordan believes that if a reconciliation bill comes up for a House vote, Rep. Mark Kirk (D-IL) will vote against it. He went on to explain that most democrats were forced to vote for the Waxman bill before they had a chance to read it. Jordan was upbeat after the beating the democrats have taken in the past week or so. With Van Jones out, ACORN being defunded and Joe Wilson raising $2 million in 10 days things are looking up.

The rest of the call focused primarily on health care. Chief Deputy Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy (CA) opened by saying Nancy Pelosi wants a final version of a House health care bill by the end of next week. He and Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN) touched on the $40 billion tax (yes, that’s billion with a b - sure to be passed on to consumers) on medical device manufacturers, which Paulsen calls a job killer. He sent a letter to Senator Max Baucus on the 16th of September but has yet to receive a reply.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN) informed us that the Mike Rogers amendment to HR 3200 was introduced for markup today in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She said the amendment offers patient-centered, free market solutions such as allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines, expansion of health savings accounts, and tort reform. She also mentioned that the amendment contains language prohibiting illegals from obtaining coverage.

The quote of the day came from Rep. Jordan: “Americans don’t like the government telling them what to do.” He’s got that right.