Get ready for the bread lines

From The Washington Times:

President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include.

Specifics of the policy are still being fiercely debated, but Bush administration officials have told Republicans in Congress that they feel pressure to act now because they fear a coming regulatory nightmare. It would be the first time Mr. Bush has called for statutory authority on the subject.

"This is an attempt to move the administration and the party closer to the center on global warming. With these steps, it is hoped that the debate over this is over, and it is time to do something," said an administration source close to the White House who is familiar with the planning and who said to expect an announcement this week.

The source requested anonymity to be able to speak on a sensitive matter still under debate. Given the arguments at the White House over the extent of the action to take, it is not clear exactly what Mr. Bush will propose, the adminstration source said.

Still, Republican members of Congress who were briefed last week let top administration officials know that they think the White House is making a mistake, according to congressional sources and others familiar with the discussions. Opponents said Mr. Bush could be setting off runaway legislation, particularly with Democrats in control of Congress.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino would not say whether an announcement is imminent. She said discussion has continued on how to follow up on Mr. Bush's call at the Group of Eight summit last year for the U.S. to lead on a post-Kyoto Protocol worldwide framework.

The administration also is trying to head off what it sees as a regulatory disaster. Environmentalists say greenhouse gases can be regulated under existing rules under the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act, and have filed lawsuits to try to force action. The Bush administration and others want to avoid a web of rules and regulations for businesses.

"The embedded regulatory trajectory that we're on is a train wreck," Mrs. Perino said. "For those who want reasonable and responsible action, it is worthwhile to have a constructive conversation as we work to keep the developing nations in this process in a way that will work to solve the problem without harming the economy."

It should go without saying that this is going to be a disaster. Just as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in 1930 transformed a serious recession into The Great Depression global warming legislation stands a good chance of turning the upcoming recession into another global depression.

I believe that the real reason for this is the upcoming election. With McCain, Clinton and Obama all three sold out to the human-caused global warming fantasy I think that Bush and his people, who all understand what a giant pile of bull scat the whole thing is, are trying to get out in front with something that won't do too much damage.

The president may also be hoping that if congress loads the legislation up with too much green moonbattery that the public will become frightened and the outcry will set back environmental extremism ten or twenty years.

More time than that shouldn't be necessary because by then the global cooling caused by naturally occurring solar cycles will have become undeniable.