02 April 2009

Steve Benen on Republican Cap-and-Trade

UPDATE: TPM called House Minority Leader John Boehner's office, which yesterday received a letter from John Reilly (mentioned below) informing the congressman that the MIT study had been misrepresented and misappropriated. A spokesman for Boehner said "We stand by our analysis."
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Today's Benen on Republicans' carbon emissions cap-and-trade policy propaganda:

But what's especially frustrating isn't just the bogus claim or the ridiculous policy analysis, it's that John Reilly told Republicans that they were wrong, and they kept lying anyway.

They relied on Reilly's scholarship, but when Reilly implored the GOP to tell the truth, they couldn't be bothered. As a result they've lied in press releases, they've lied in op-eds, and they've lied, over and over again, in speeches.

Saying something that's not true is a policy problem. Repeating the false claim after having been told it's not true is a character problem.
Wow. I know nothing about cap-and-trade policy arguments, but the whole post bowls me right over. Read for yourself.