I got this email from my mother today, she has also sent it to a close friend of her's who is like an aunt to me. I am a bit ashamed to admit that they watch Fox, and are Becker-heads. To make it a bit surreal in the past year my mother has gone from being a Republican (after nearly 55 years of being a Democrat), Tea-bagger, and now claims to be an independent. Needless to say, she sends me bogus information all the time. Usually I don't bother to respond, but opt to wait until we have a phone conversation to try to 'clear the bugs out' of her. (Yes, I think of Becker-headism as something akin to a computer virus.)
Sometimes, like today, I'm just not in the frame of mind to let it slide and also have a quick retort. Today was one of the latter. No, it's not perfect, and in retrospect I could have done a bit better, but for an off the top of my head response I thought it wasn't too shabby.
For your amusement, I submit the original email followed by my response.
The Original:
Subject: A License Required to Sell Your HOUSE!
We encourage you to read the provisions of the Cap and Trade Bill that has passed the House of Representatives and being considered by the Senate. We are ready to join the next march on Washington ! This Congress and whoever on their staffs that write this junk are truly out to destroy the middle class of the USA ....
A License required for your house...no longer just for cars and mobile homes...
Thinking about selling your house - A look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and trade bill) This is unbelievable!
Only the beginning from this administration! Home owners take note & tell your friends and relatives who are home owners!
Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. H.R. 2454, the "Cap & Trade" bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced. The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year. No one is excluded. However, once the lower classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure these voters get a tax refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost. Thus, you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America will have to pay even more since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out everyone else.
But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has actually read) has many more surprises in it. Probably the worst one is this: A year from now you won't be able to sell your house. Yes, you read that right. The caveat is (there always is a caveat) that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes ("mobile homes") are included. In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator. To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured. Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements. Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a "label" in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner. If you don't get a high enough rating, you can't sell. And, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act. The EPA administrator, appointed by the President, will run the Cap & Trade program (AKA the "American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009") and is authorized to make any future changes to the regulations and standards he alone determines to be in the government's best interest. Requirements are set low initially so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new standards every year.
The Act itself contains annual required increases in energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings. However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any time. Sect. 202 Building Retrofit Program mandates a national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing homes across America . Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. You had better sell soon, because the standards will be raised each year and will be really hard (i.e., ex$pen$ive) to meet in a few years. Oh, goody! The Act allows the government to give you a grant of several thousand dollars to comply with the retrofit program requirements IF you meet certain energy efficiency levels. But, wait, the State can set additional requirements on who qualifies to receive the grants. You should expect requirements such as "can't have an income of more than $50K per year", "home selling price can't be more than $125K", or anything else to target the upper middle class (and that's YOU) and prevent them from qualifying for the grants. Most of us won't get a dime and will have to pay the entire cost of the retrofit out of our own pockets. More transfer of wealth, more "change you can believe in." Sect. 204 Building Energy Performance Labeling Program establishes a labeling program that for each individual residence will identify the achieved energy efficiency performance for "at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act."
This means that within 5 years 90% of all residential homes in the U.S. must be measured and labeled. The EPA administrator will get $50M each year to enforce the labeling program. The Secretary of the Department of Energy will get an additional $20M each year to help enforce the labeling program. Some of this money will, of course, be spent on coming up with tougher standards each year.
Oh, the label will be like a license for your car. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having this label. And, just like your car license, you will probably be required to get a new label every so often - maybe every year. But, the government estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only cost about $200 each time. Remember what they said about the auto smog inspections when they first started: that in California it would only cost $15. That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50 for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from the home labeling program. Sect. 304 Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes establishes new energy efficiency guidelines for the National Building Code and mandates at 304(d) that 1 year after enactment of this Act, all state and local jurisdictions must adopt the National Building Code energy efficiency provisions or must obtain a certification from the federal government that their state and/or local codes have been brought into full compliance with the National Building Code energy efficiency standards.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=A+License+required+for+your+home-+Cap+and+Trade&btnG=Google+ They, Beck and Fox, are so full of 'what if's' and 'could happen's" and such that they are no use what so ever when it comes to reality, the here and now.
If they wanted more people to drive they might start by saying something like this, "Crossing the street could get you killed by a moving vehicle. Statistics show that 'X' % of fatalities are caused by crossing the street." The implication being, "By all means, never cross the street." If everyone were to do that, car sales would ultimately increase, fuel consumption certainly would, as would CO2/carbon monoxide (that pesky fossil fuel emission that we continue to dump into our own atmosphere, causing lung problems AND yes GLOBAL WARMING. It is a green house gas, you know what a green house is, we are turning our very planet into one. DEAL WITH IT!)
The only parties to benefit from following the above advise is who???? The auto industry (to a certain extent) And the OIL CORPORATIONS!
FOX NEWS, if you realize it or not, regularly promotes FASCISM. "Fascists seek to organize a nation on corporatist perspectives; values; and systems such as the political system and the economy"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism Do you know who else was a right wing fascist? Hitler! Yep!
http://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2I don't think either of you ladies want to be 'down with Hitler', do you? Perhaps you should take the political compass 'test' yourselves. When answering be true to what You actually think is best, vs. what anyone else says.
ALSO,
PLEASE FACT CHECK FOR GOD'S SAKE! NOT JUST THESE STUPID EMAIL FORWARDS, BUT FOX NEWS!!!
SNOPES.COM, YOU KNOW IT, USE IT!!
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