Published: October 20, 2009 11:54 am      

Inhofe continues cap and trade battle

Ada — United States Senator Jim Inhofe is continuing his battle against a federal cap and trade bill.

“The two things that are my issues are, number one to stop the liberals in the United States Senate from forcing us into a cap and trade type of system,” Inhofe said. Inhofe said he was one of the first to come out against the idea that man-made gases caused global warming.

“At that time, it was eight years ago, I made the statement that it was perhaps the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” Inhofe said. “It was a very unpopular thing to say and a position to take back then but now it’s popular.”

Inhofe said the tax increase resulting from the bill would be astronomical.

“If they were to pass this bill that they’re going to try to pass in Congress, it would be the largest single tax increase in the history of America,” Inhofe said. “Just to put it into context, it would be 10 times the tax increase of the 1993 Clinton/Gore tax increase.”

Inhofe also said world carbon dioxide emissions would not change due to the bill because other countries would continue with their emissions.

“If we do it just here in the United States, then our manufacturing jobs would have to go to countries like Mexico, China and India where they don’t have any emissions restrictions,” he said.

Inhofe will be going to the United Nations conference on global warming in December.

“They’re trying in one last-ditch effort to force America to join in some kind of international treaty. I will be what is now being referred to in the press as ‘the one man truth squad,’” Inhofe said. “My feeling is still that we’re going to win this. They do not have the votes to pass.”

Inhofe’s second issue is his attempt to keep Guantanamo Bay open.

“There is no place else that they can put these people. The president, again, his obsession is to bring these terrorists to the United States for trial or incarceration,” Inhofe said.

Another thing Inhofe is concerned about is President Obama’s military budget.

“He terminated every program that would make America a leader in our defense capabilities, including the site in Eastern Europe that would have interceptor capability that would have the ability to stop an ICBM that was coming from Iran to the United States. Without that, we’re just naked. The Eastern part of the United States doesn’t have any defense mechanism,” Inhofe said.

Inhofe said the final version of the Democrats’ healthcare bill will have a government option.

“That’s socialized medicine, by the way,” Inhofe said. “Nancy Pelosi says, ‘Don’t send us anything back to the House of Representatives unless it is a government option,’ and she’s not going to move from that.” He doesn’t believe the bill will pass.

Inhofe said he believes Obama won the Nobel Prize because of his military budget.

“His budget terminates the F-22, the C-17, the future combat system, the next generation bomber and the interceptor site in Poland,” Inhofe said. “That is perceived as just disarming America and I think that’s the main reason that he received it.”