YOUR COMMENTS

Porter says, "We have several alternatives to oil, including solar, geothermal, wind power, American-grown biofuels and biomass and natural gas. Pickens has said that we could be the Saudi Arabia of wind power. To harness that energy, we will have to develop the technology and build the wind turbines and transmission systems."

If the Cap and Trade bill is supposed to create Green jobs by promoting the use of wind turbines, why hasn't the private sector done it already? Because it's not a great idea?
- Steve, Hooksett

Bill, Carol Shea-Porter has admitted publicly that she didn't read the Stimulus Bill, the Cap and Trade Bill, and the Healthcare Bill. So what exactly is she studying? Carol Shea-Porter represents the far left wing extremists of the Democratic party. While New Hampshire's demographics have changed they haven't changed that radically not even in our southern tier.
- Don Diamant, Milton, NH

Just compare the rational discussion provided by Representative Carol Shea-Porter to the tone and content of the dissenting commenters. That will tell you what you need to t the quality of our first district representation in Washington.

Carol Shea-Porter is studying issues and voting in the interest of regular people in the first district. I'm proud to have her represent me.
- Bill Duncan, New Castle

I have a question for those of you who believe Carol Shea-Porter represents the people of New Hampshire. I ask you because I have asked her and she won't answer the question.

There was an amendment to the Stimulus bill that the funding would be distributed based on population. This would have brought 3.5 billion dollars of stimulus money to New Hampshire. How was Carol Shea-Porter's vote against the amendment in the best interests of the people of New Hampshire?

She has voted against her party twice since she has been in office, that's greater than 99% of the time. How extreme far left are you that you believe that this makes her a moderate?
- Don Diamant, Milton, NH

Shame on the people of the first district for sending this fool to Washington.
- Pete Orsi, Stratham

OH and by the way, you can stop blaming 'inherited' problems. Everything we are suffering now is directly due to this totally incompetent administration -- who frankly I believe is destroying America on purpose.

Some of you are just as shallow as CSP is.
Face it you own this terrible Obama quadrupled deficit, stimulus plan that failed, and health care and cap and tax that is about to go down hard.... because the majority of the public is NOT behind any of this.

All this money may as well have been dumped in the ocean as it was awarded to Obama cronies to shore up his presidency.
He even admitted today he had no idea HR3200 had the no private option clause in it!!!!
- Sue, Manchester

@Chaz: If you watch CSPAN you will see that this not reading of the bills is being done on purpose. The more people read about what's in them, the less they support them. Look up Rep Tom Price's speech in the house and he will tell you that this has been the most 'tyrannical' regime in the history of the nation.... disallowing amendments and not allowing bills to be seen.

True it is one of the most corrupt and CSP is part of it. What year were you born?

It's really scary to be represented by this partisan hack that does what she is told by Pelosi and the rest of the Marxists, to the detriment of the people....

Did you know that in Maine, stimulus money is being used to test GPS in cars to track your movements and tax you on them? Or that stimulus money is being used in NH to test 'smart grid' technology? This would be so your thermostat could be hooked directly to the utilities and they can monitor your use and cut you off if they want!

This energy audit baloney is just a sweeping excuse to use to take your private property AWAY FROM YOU -- notice she makes no mention about the liens and transference of the property ownership that is provided for if the government doesn't deem you having followed all their stupid rules, right inside this bill she never read?

This woman is a dangerous hack who never read this bill. VOTE HER OUT NOW.

This is just a bunch of simpleton talking points she is repeating -- and as Richard Haass of the CFR and many others have admitted on manipulating America with environmental issues:

'The common enemy of humanity is man. In searching for a common enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill.'

-- Richard Haass, Club of Rome Document, 1991

I am beginning to think the definition of liberal is someone who is a sheep that believes in the latest fad, even while their own elitist leaders are telling them they are being duped, right to their faces....

Energy prices will skyrocket per Obama... why not listen to him? Is he lying now?
- Sue, Manchester

We inherited many of our present problems from the past administration. The Congress/Senate is owned by the lobbyists. Few in Washington vote as our Carol Shea-Porter does. She has consistently voted for N.H. and the U.S. better interests.
Green technology is the better option. It will create jobs in the U.S. if enforced. Carol always has studied the facts and picked the best way for this to be obtained.
Check her record. We have enough pollution already and the U.S. can set an example for other countries to follow.
She is being honest with us and I respect that. Telling us that a small amount of money will keep our land, air and bodies healthier is worth the sacrifice that many spend on cups of coffee each month. We must start now with improving how we get our energy for our heat, cars and businesses. We no longer want to rely on other countries for this. There are much better alternatives to oil, nuclear and coal energy. Let's get going on this now and achieve this by 2015 rather than 2030. No more talk. Let' s follow Carol's example and get started today. Gail Mitchell
- Gail Mitchell, Barrington

It was admitted that no one in the house read this bill. Obviously Shea-Porter did NOT. It is in the bill that to sell your home, you will need it inspected and ok'd. Obama himself said our rates would go up. 2010 this woman needs ousted. Rep from IN, unemployment rate of 18% said this bill will ruin even more of IN manufacturers.
- maureen odonnell, plaistow

Shea-Porter's op-ed was recently corrected only after several reports hit the blogosphere about a contradiction in the op-ed. In the original piece, Shea-Porter claimed the bill would reduce the U.S. federal budget deficit by $24 billion dollars over the next ten years. Several sentences later she claimed the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $9 billion dollars over 10 years.
According to Nowhampshire.com, Shea-Porter’s staff explained this mishap with the following quote: “The most up-to-date numbers were added to the piece, and the other numbers were mistakenly left in..."
However, the $24 billion number came from the Congressional Budget Office’s June 5th estimate of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s reported bill, while the $9 billion figure came from CBO’s June 26th House Rules Committee reported bill (the bill that Shea-Porter actually voted in favor of on the House floor on June 26th.) Shea-Porter’s explanation implies that the $9 billion figure was only recently produced during the writing of her July 21st op-ed. Clearly, this is a bold face lie. It is apparent that neither she nor her staff comprehends how to read budgetary estimates. It is also apparent that Shea-Porter did not read the budget estimate prior to her vote on this bill.
Additionally, this $9 billion estimate is not the final estimate (which has yet to be released)…it does not include the 300+ page amendment that was dropped at 3am in the morning. These estimates are also just budgetary estimates; revenue in and revenue out. A simple read of the estimates will explain that they do not estimate true macroeconomic costs…i.e. hits to labor, capital, GDP.
- Kevin Barnett, Nashua, NH

Part of the CBO report that wasn't given the light of day noted that after 2010 the bill would cost consumers an extra thousand or more per year and hobble any economic growth.

I wonder if Carol can tell us why India, China and other rapidly expanding industrial economies have no intention of capping carbon emissions. Not to mention that most of Europe is dumping the carbon capping laws they have because it is strangling their economies just when they need them to grow out of a global recession.
- Larry Owsowitz, Concord

I appreciate Carol for keeping us informed on this and many other issues. It's a good feeling to be represented by someone who looks out for the best interests of the people of District 1. She isn'[t bought in paid for by the corporate PAC's that attempt to control our country.
- Bill, Manchester

Well Miss Porter I for one have not eaten from the global warming or the now climate change poison apple being sold the public. Nor do I have any faith in your claim we will all not be paying more for energy when it is your party that increases energy costs either by suing nuclear power into being so costly, does not allow us to drill for oil or build refineries. Your party are the same ones who just spent us into oblivion and taxed us to death while wanting to place blame anywhere but on your own shoulders.

The ice caps that covered New Hampshire melted just ten thousand years ago. Who is to say the warming ever stopped? Before you destroy the nation maybe the democrat party should try changing something on a smaller scale like stopping a tornado.

And keep your paws off of our health care. If you want to lower costs try getting all your radical lawyers away from suing our doctors and hospitals. That alone would bring costs down. First the Democrats screw it up with lawyers then you go for total control by having government take everything over and robbing the people of their freedom at the same time. I’m willing to bet you did not even read half of the 1600 pages of the health care reform mess you are trying to force on the nation.

I only pray this nation wakes up soon. That is while we are still free to pray.
- Deb, Derry

Ms Shea Porter. You are wrong. It is just a shell game for politicians to control money.

Democrats as we all know cannot be trusted with money, you squander it.
- Bob, Salem

Congresswoman Shea-Porter,

Thank you for providing a summary of the bill and highlighting to everyone how very important it is for us to explore alternative sources of energy, both for energy independence and to be good stewarts of the earth.

Unfortunately, many of the comments from other readers on your article don't seem to value either issue, but find pleasure in denigrating the efforts of Democrats for addressing this issue after eight years of neglect by the previous administration.
- Gary Way, Bedford

I'm all for protecting the environment, but this bill is nothing more than Cap-and-Tax. These so called public servants can't seem to take the time to read and analyze these bills and how these policies will effect our nation. We import our oil from the middle east and pretty soon we'll be importing our electricity from Canada or Mexico because rather than play this Cap and Trade game, these plants will just up and move across the border or overseas like our entire manufacturing base has done over the past 3 decades. At this rate the only place Americans will be able to apply for job is at Goldman Sachs or MacDonalds.

Rather than forge her own path and serve the people of NH, Rep. Porter has been a follower. From what I've been able to gather from her legislative record, Carol Shea-Porter has so far failed to pass a single piece of legislation that she herself has sponsored. Rep. Porter's record has mostly been to cosponsor other legislator's bills. Porter has sponsored about 27 bills, but all have failed to get out of committee or failed in a vote.

It's time to elect a representative who can stand up to the greed and idiocy in Washington and not just go with the flow of their party because they are either a Democrat or a Republican.
- Mark Jesionowski, Manchester, NH

This bill doesn't have anything to do with energy. Just as the "healthcare bill" has nothing to do with healthcare. Just as the "stimulus bill" had nothing to do with stimulus. It's the government overreaching into every aspect of our lives. The government has NO BUSINESS doing what it's trying to do. END OF STORY! I also wrote Ms. Shea-Porter asking her not to vote for the "energy bill." I continue to write and to call both her and Shaheen. I ask everybody else to do the same. Call and write EVERY DAY.

Remember, they can attempt to run our lives, but are we really going to let them?
- Sheana, Sandown

She is not my representative; she is Pelosi’s lapdog.

What I fear most is we won’t be able to rid ourselves of her ilk because of out of stators invading our polling places on Election Day to illegally vote for progressives like her.

I wrote Carol Shay-Porter the day before the vote and told her I wanted her to vote against it. I asked her to wait and see how the Northeast cap and trade program played out first. I told her I believed this bill would export jobs; that the real purpose of cap and trade was to raise revenue and it would do nothing for the environment. Her office responded with the canned party line.

I wrote her again after the vote to let her know I was not pleased that she voted for cap and trade. Her office sent me a response that was nearly word for word of what she had published in the UL today.
- Richard Johnson, Londonderry

Ms. Shea-Porter,

STOP bashing the last 8 years! You and your cohorts have done more damage in 6 months they anyone has. BTW why isn't the White House reproting on the first 6 months budget performance? HMMMMM, afraid that the emperor has no clothes????
- Paul, Candia

This bill is nothing more than a huge tax increase so the tax and spenders have more money to spend!
I guess we should believe the folks in Washington after they sold us the bill of goods called "stimulus". Hell, they are only off on their prediction of unenployment by 2 points and climbing! I love it when Biden (and others) say that they "no one saw this coming". Oh yeah? How about all but three or four republicans and more than half the country that said NO to it. Maybe the idiots in charge should take a couple days to read the bills and understand there affects on the people of the country. Regulating with out any care for how the economy will react adds up to California. I think it was Bill Clinton that said "it's the economy, stupid!" and he was right!
- Jesse, Orford

Behind closed doors the understanding is clear. There is a path to the new America. You are either on board for a place in the upper tier or you aren't. It isn't about right or wrong, left or right. It's about the path and your place at the end.

Bear that in mind, and suddenly all the idiocy begins to make sense.
- Craig D, Manchester

I have a solution for our energy problems.

Bottle up all the hot air in Washington...
- Zoot, Derry

Dittoes. The Congresswoman's description of the bill differs from the descriptions from other sources that I trust. Given the Congresswoman's history, I wish the Union-Leader had tried to fact-check this op-ed. (It is not a mark of precision but to make fact-checking impossible that Carol does not specify which version of the bill she is basing her remarks on.)

Apart from the costs of cap-and-trade, you must consider the future trends. Congress will find it much easier to reduce the number of carbon permits in the future--forcing businesses to pay more to "trade" them, a cost they will pass on to us--than to pass an explicit tax increase.

Every gallon of gas I buy, I have decided is worth more to me than the $2.439 I had to pay to acquire it. I made this decision based on my values, and I now own that gasoline. Now, Carol, what do you know about my situation that I don't that lets you override my decision on the basis of a cosmic goal of "energy independence"?
- Spike, Brentwood NH

Hey Chaz, I don't think all of the posters here are nitwits, nor are their comments nitwit. There may be one nitwit poster today though.

That's the problem with the far left, they tell us lies and think we are stupid. We are not. This cap and trade bill only applies to the US. It also includes billions of our dollars to be paid to other countries to encourage them to be greener. OUR money. China, India, Pakistan, Russia and the rest of the world will all get the jobs and factories that leave America. Al Gore and many members of Congress will get rich because they have investments in green companies and some other real big names on Wall Street will also get rich selling the permits.

And we will get poorer, all of us.

What is it going to take to convince all of us that this administration is doing everything possible to destroy our capitalist economy? We are all in denial because we cannot believe that an elected official in this country could ever do such a thing.

It's happening folks, as we watch and do nothing. Don't be a nit wit and post, call Shea-Porter, Shaheen, Gregg and Hodes. Call them every day.
- Melvin, Keene

I have listen to yiu lie about the stimulas bill on WGIR. I have seen you break your oath of office by voting for legislation that was in direct violation of the constitution. This latest attempt to sell the cap & trade bill finally convinces me that you are brain dead!
- Jon Beaulieu, Tuftonboro

I find it really interesting that so many of the right-wing commenters on this article are so bereft of ideas that they have to repeat Republican talking points they have heard on Fox News. How do any of them know that Congresswoman Shea-Porter didn't read the bill? Were they sitting in her office watching her all month? Or did they merely parrot the words of Rush Limbaugh? Or maybe because they take positions without first getting information, they think everyone behaves as they do.

Honest differences of opinion is one thing; taking a position when you don't know what you're talking about is quite another. Shame!
- Lenore Patton, Hampton

You want to talk about facts, Chaz?

The Cap and Trade bill was 1200 pages--300 pages of which were added at 3:00am on the SAME DAY as the vote. Chief co-sponsor of the bill, Henry Waxman, himself admitted to not knowing the details of what was in his own Waxman-Markey bill.

There's NO WAY that a 300 page amendment could be read, researched and vetted in a matter of hours for a vote hours later. They tried to jam this bill through as fast as they could and elected representatives like Carol Shea-Porter voted blindly because it was the vote that Speaker Pelosi and the White House wanted--THAT'S the unavoidable fact in all of this.

Congress admittedly didn't read the stimulus bill before passing it and it's increasingly apparent that they didn't read this one, either. Perhaps Carol Shea-Porter should stop relying on the New York Times to break down bills for her and start paying attention to the people of New Hampshire.

Policy debates are for EVERY AMERICAN and not just those in Washington, Chaz. When we leave these things to them, they invariably rake us over the coals and shake us down for even more money.
- William Smith, Manchester, NH

Thank you, Congresswoman Shea-Porter for your vote on and for helping us to understand a very important energy bill.
Your sentence in the second paragraph should encourage all to read the whole article:
"There is a lot of misinformation about this bill on the Internet and in the press."
- Shirley, Nottingahm

New Hampshire is already paying the highest electric rates in the nation! This is bad legislation. We ought to be drilling for domestic oil, building nuclear energy plants and using vastly more coal. The U.S. needs to produce its way out of the energy situation that is the bottom line! We urgently need 7-10 million more jobs in the Untied States and we need cheaper energy to do it! And while we are at let's close the border and start putting our own citizens to work for a change!
- Bill, Brookline

Read the Cap and Trade bill?

She didn't even proof her own Op Ed. Check the deficit numbers in paragraphs 1 and 3 for consistency.

What a joke. Good luck up there in NH.
- Jamal, Fairfax, VA

Carol - You never read the cap and trade bill before voting on it, never read the stimulus bill befor voting on it. Please don't vote with the party on the rushed health tax bill. I have never actively worked for or given money for any politictian. But YOU Carol - I plan actively see defeated. NH deserves better.
- Tom, Manchester

Wow

What a chorus line of nitwits this comments section is.

You talk about party lines? How many of you write that "she doesn't read the bills?"

Really all of you should be out doing something productive with your lives and leave policy debates to people who deal with facts.

The people of the first District elected Rep. Shea-Porter twice because she has such high command of facts and the ability to communicate those facts to the voters.

Of course that wouldn't mean much to you
- Chaz Proulx, Raymond

Dear Carol.....Read the Cap and Trade Bill before you comment on its merrit! I remember a local school board saying that a new high school program would cost the equivilant of "a slice of pizza" a day. The budget for the high school ran OVER by 5 million. Do not trust government cost projections.
Why did T Bones Pickens abandon his wind farm in the Texas panhandle? The cost of distribution outweighed its benefit. Want to buy a windmill anyone???
As far as our reliance on foreign oil....drill baby drill. We need to be allowed to explore and develope our own resouces. Green energy is a viable resource, but not a primary one. Our ageing refineries need to be revamped and expanded.
- Jeff, Dunbarton

Thank you Ms. Shea-Pelosi. Well drafted babble. While people (10%) are not working and struggling to find work and survive, you say only a postage stap cost per day increase. Of course you fail to mention that a postage stamp will probably cost $2 by the 2020 mark you state.

You are right, it will create jobs, in China, Korea, and other countries other than us as our companies escape to lower taxes & expenses.

Here's a much quicker way to decrease the budget deficit without increasing costs, fees, & taxes on the remaining 48% of us that actually work for a living. C-U-T S-P-E-N-D-I-N-G!!!! What a novel idea huh??

By the way, when it costs factories, farmers, and other producers more in energy, where do you think they will get the money to pay for it??? That's right, the consumer!!!

Oops, I assumed you could think, maybe you should ask Ms. Pelosi. I am sure she will TELL you what to think.

Your constituents are against this bill, yet you voted for it anyway. Remember Dick Swett did thi to his constituents, I can only hope and pray you will suffer the same fate he did. We voted him OUT.
- Mike, Nottingham

Even if this bill worked as it was intended--as we know all monstrous, pork-ridden Washington legislation usually does--what do we get for hamstringing our economy and getting nuked on energy taxes?

The reduction of surface temperatures by one tenth of a degree Celsius by the end of the century.

By then we'll all be too preoccupied with getting up nice and early for our place in the bread lines to notice.
- Dave, Goffstown

I would prefer the government to get out of the way and let the market create it's own jobs thank you very much.
- Kevin, Bennington

When did she actually read the bill? Has she even read the bill?

This column reads like a list of talking points from the Obama White House. I suspect the likelihood she wrote this column is the same as the likelihood she's read the cap-and-trade legislation.
- Tom, Campton

Its amazing how many people voted for the radical left wing democratic party and are surprised at the vast increases in taxes everyone is facing within 6 months of the new president being voted in. These nonsense bills will bankrupt this country and cost thousands more jobs. The democrats will be the downfall, make sure you congratulate your friends who voted for Obama and his buddies.
- john marrapese, mclean va

This legislation makes it more expensive to produce nearly everything. Its impact on household costs will not be limited to utility rates, as Shea-Pelosi would like you to believe, but extends to everything that requires electricty to produce. It will not lead to net job creation, it will lead to more jobs being sent overseas (to countries who pollute more than we do). On top of all that, at best it will have an imperceptible effect on the climate. The bill is a loser and NH voters know it.
- Rick, Portsmouth

How would you know what the bill contains, Rep. Shea-Porter? Like every other bill in this Congress, you didn't even READ IT!

What about all the PORK, Congresswoman?

Why don't you be honest about that for a change?
- William Smith, Manchester, NH

Ms. Shea-Porter doesn't like nuclear because she says it's unsafe, from a statement earlier in the year. This just shows how well she researches the subjects she votes on, Maybe if she started reading about nuclear technology from current sources, instead of the papers from the 60's, she'd find that nuclear has become one of the safest sources of energy.

France is generating over 75% of their electrical power from nuclear stations, with no serious safety problems. And they even use breeder reactors to greatly reduce nuclear waste. We in this country are still afraid of that technology.

Ms. Shea-Porter, Three-Mile Island and Chernobyl are ancient history. Lots of lessons learned from TMI, and Chernobyl's technology was never adopted here. Time to get with the times and stop reading old Clamshell Alliance newsletters.
- Marc, Derry

It would be nice if our reps really represented New Hampshire. They represent MoveOn.org and Nancy Pelosi. She never read the bill before she voted on it and now repeats partisan talking points. She's as much of a fraud as Obama and insults my intelligence. It's interesting that nuclear energy is off the table and that the increase in taxes to fund this monstrosity is called "investment". It's an investment alright --an investment in socialism.
She bemoans the money going to our enemies for foreign oil. It has been the Democrats that have blocked us from our own domestic supplies for thirty years. That is the legacy of the first socialist fraud --Jimmy Carter. Can we say "deja-vu" . This group we now have in Washington is the most damaging and destructive bunch that I've witnessed in my lifetime, and i go back to FDR. It's like they are all Alinsky disciples. 2010 can't come soon enough for me . It's been said that we get the government we deserve. There is some truth to that. I worry for my grandchildren. I intend to dust myself off and go to work to do everything I can to help defeat these radical progressive hacks before they completely destroy America.
We don't work for them--they work for us. They all need to be tossed out
- Len, Atkinson

It's funny how she uses a postage stamp as an analogy.

The last time I checked the post office just raised rates..AGAIN and they still can't deliver the mail on time. Where I work, there are at least 2-3 occasions a month where the post office loses mail and the best part is they don't care. Then try and send something from Manchester to Northboro MA, you are looking at a week

Further proof that anything the gov't gets involved in turns into an utter disaster.

The only jobs these spineless jellyfish are interested in creating is more gov't jobs for their friends and relatives.

Its funny how most businesses have cut jobs but the gov't keeps adding.
- Peter S, Manchester, NH

Is it me or is she she believes everything T Boone Pickens has to say? She keeps saying, see a big oil guy thinks this is the way to go. I am starting to think it is not the lobbyist fault. It is dumb congressman who believe this garbage. And why is it polticians love to always say it is a "national problem and requires a national solution". NE came up with a regional solution and your national one doesn't even reach the same level. The federal government needs to back off on the economy and if anything they need to eliminate favoritism in the laws. I am looking forward to when I can vote this woman out and I don't have to see her stupid office sign in Dover anymore.
- George, Dover

Carol Shea-Porter is just spouting the Democratic Party line. She is either dumb or misinformed. Either way she needs to be voted out of office. To even suggest a ridiculus bill as Cap and Trade should be enough to oppose her, let alone in economic times as these.
- D Ballum, Londonderry

Anyone who voted for this with out reading the bill (same for the stimulus) should be re-called from office for irresponsible behavior...

Cap-and-Trade will simply lead to more outsourcing of American manufacturing to India and China where there are no restrictions or rationing of energy...

Cap-and-Trade will raise the cost of our gasoline, utilities and probably just about every consumer product (as many are petroleum based and all are transported to market)... It's government sponsored inflation...
- Hedge, Newton, NH

Cap and Trade makes no sense at all either in an economic sense or an environmental one. It will drive more jobs from this couintry to countries such as India and China.

We need someone on the US House that understands economics and not a left wing ideologue.
- Stephen Campbell, Salem

This is the same person who signed on to the stimulus bill that was going create permanent jobs in NH.

To my fellow citizens of the great state of New Hampshire, I would like to point out to you a gross over statement on how the federal stimulus funds were going to kick start the economy and provide job replacement to bring us back from the worst economy since the Great Depression.

The state of New Hampshire has received an amount of $413,000,000 million in stimulus funds. Do you know how many jobs this money has produce for the state of NH? Is it 10,000 new jobs, 1,000 new jobs, 100 new jobs? No, not even 100 new jobs but a whopping grand total of 34 jobs. The 34 jobs come to us at a cost of $12,000 million a job, and to make matter worst, the jobs are not permanent. Twelve million dollars a job, you talk about government waste and deception. Gov. Lynch, Reps. Hodes, Shea-Porter and Sen. Shaheen you and your hacks up in Concord and down in D.C. should be embarrassed for your waste and deception on the spending of the hard earned money of the American people, 34 jobs. You are out there touting your use of how the stimulus is providing jobs for the people and economy of New Hampshire. However the stimulus package is providing neither economic growth nor permanent jobs to the state. You and the others in the House and Senate who voted for this wasteful bill, have perpetrated the largest fraud in the history of these United States.

I am asking you the good citizens of New Hampshire to hold these people accountable for their voting records and their wasteful spending of our tax dollars. They are the same people who have run the U.S. Postal Service into the ground, bankrupt Social Security, Medicare and now are telling us that they can bring us reform to health care. Citizens of N.H. wake up and make yourselves be heard. If we don't stand up and stop this madness now, the America we now know will not exist.

Call, write, get involved and stop this government takeover of our wallets and freedoms. We need to let these people who say they represent us know that we cannot take anymore of this and we want for the government to stop growing and leave us alone!

This cap and spend bill is nothing more that more government take over, Ms Carol Shea Polosi did not read that bill, what makes you believe she read this one!
Joseph Santaniello

Fiscal Conservative

Kingston
- Joseph Santaniello, Kingston,NH

Ms. Shea-Porter, Hogwash! Obviously, you still haven't read this bill that you so proudly voted for. It does say that homes will have to have an energy audit and the implication is that the homeowner may not be able to sell it until it is repaired to meet certain energy efficiency criteria or face fines.
You also certainly have some different understanding of the economics of this bill. Do I understand you to say that only rich people will pay more and poor people won't? What happens here, are you going to rig a poor people's electric meter to run backwards every other day?
You conveniently don't mention the impact on business which is of huge concern, when they have to swallow the "skyrocketing" (Your President's word) cost of electricity.
And, by the way, T. Boone announced last week he is abandoning his plans for huge investment in windmill farms - his advisors convinced him the future just isn't there.
- Sandy, Thornton

Carol's citing of all the alternative methods of electricity generation curiously omits the only real alternative - nuclear. Is that because Moveon.org hates the nuclear alternative and would stop funding her campaign if she spoke about that? 2010 can't come fast enough.

New Hampshire
More than one-half of the electricity generated in New Hampshire comes from the Seabrook nuclear power plant, located south of Portsmouth. The state's sole nuclear facility began commercial operation in 1990.
http://www.zetatalk.com/info/tinfo12k.htm
- jerry, derry

The good news - Your electric rates will only increase by about the cost of a postage stamp per day by 2020.


The bad news - A Postage stamp will cost about $12 by 2020.

The Democrats had a chance to find the middle ground and actually pass a bill that was about energy independence. Instead, they did what they always do and when asked what the best way was to solve some problem they came out with the inevitable "A lot more Government" reply.
- Jeff C, Nashua

Taxes have never created jobs. This article is typical of an out of touch partisan Congressman/woman. Can 2010 get here soon enough. We have plenty of Oil & gas but the Dems won't let us drill. What about Nuclear? WHY don't we have the collective guts to do something! You voted for "Hope & Change" well, you got it. How do you like it so far. I guess we can only Hope for Change, 2010 then on to 2012.
- Michael King, Epping

The poor representative is a mental lightweight - don't expect her to let facts get in the way of her fiction. She actually believes that alternative engery is readily available and cheap - I bet she can't even balance her own checkbook, let alone assess the potenial impacts of this follishness on the country's economy. The sooner we throw her sorry butt out of Congress the better off we will all be!
- Pat Spooner, Windham

The liberals are spending the USA into oblivion, and their only recourse is to raise taxes. The latter is very unpopular, so hence, devise a distraction. In this case, the distraction is the global warming hysteria.

To the rest of the world, the United States must look like an insane asylum where the inmates like CAROL SHEA-PORTER have taken over.

The planet is stable, it’s the alarmists that are not.
- David, Keene

Unmitigated BS. Who "creates" jobs? Companies that hire people.

How can they hire people if their energy rates kill their profit? WHY would they hire people instead of moving operations or manufacturing to cheaper locales overseas?

Shea-Porter, you're a good little bubblehead puppet for the Obots, you do whatever Pelosi and that insane Waxman tell you to do. And nobody believes this lie. You didn't even write this, this was just a talking point script handed to you to pass on.

You idiots are trying to kill America, and we're not going to let you.
- Mike R., Bedford

I am sure some idiot will come forth and thank Shea-Porter for "setting the record straight" and being a "middle of the road" rep for NH. That same idiot will actually believe everything Shea-Pelosi said despite the fact much of it is not true. We certainly have energy issues, and a broader selection of energy sources is needed, but the Waxman bill is more about increasing government control of our lives and industry than it is about saving energy, saving the environment, or energy solutions. Shea-Porter is either dishonest or gullible. In her defense, and having read much of what she has previously written, I don't think she is smart enough to intentionally tell this lie. I hope the GOP in 2010 brings forth a credible candidate. Shea-Porter makes Sarah Palin look like a Rhodes scholar.
- jeff, Goffstown

Wake up folks. This is how it's done: our politicians just keep the same lies coming and eventually we give in. There are some party hacks out there that believe the party line, on both sides.

Washington DC is slowly regulating us out of freedom. We asked for border control and immigration control, they refused. We asked for real security, and our president snubs our allies and makes friends with our enemies. We asked them not to screw with our health care, at least the silent 70% of us that have it, and they are refusing. They have taken control of the US auto industry, and banking and continue to execute the very same financial policies that crippled the economy in the first place. We ask only to keep the money we earned and they refuse and take it for others, not just those who won't work in America, but all over the world!

Wake up folks, call your Reps and Senators and tell them you're tired of their garbage and then vote them out.
- Melvin, Keene

Yet another example of why Comrade Shea-Porter thinks we are dumber than a box of rocks. Energy independence? We were paying $4.00/gallon gasoline last year while you went on vacation! Lose the condescending tone and 'fess up: cap-in-trade is dumb.
- Mark, Manchester

Talk about hotair. Can anyone explain the wisdom in converting your food supply into fuel?
- Brian, Wakefield

Our representative is living in la-la land. This bill will send more jobs overseas and all goods in this country will cost more for the consumer. Your electric bill will increase substantially. We need to read bills before we vote the "party line".
- dave, littleton

The Cap and Trade bill is going to bankrupt America while it beings the rest of the world to it's knees by controlling world wide energy use and costs. At the same time it's going to make a few of Ob ama and Al Gore's friends very rich. Carol Shea Porter is a traitor to those who put her in office.
- AJ, Windham

Ah yes, another shell game from our "bipartisan" (votes with her party nearly 95% of the time) representative. Focusing on household costs while ingoring the costs in manufacturing and food production. I won't get as long-winded as Ms. Shea-Porter, but look into this travesty for yourselves with open eyes. Oh and by the way, nice dig at Bush (another way of saying "don't pay attention to what we are doing to you now, look at what happened to you in the past). Such baloney in such a carefully worded op-ed. Straight from the office of Nancy Pelosi. I can't wait until 2010 when we can vote this mouthpiece for the liberal agenda out of office.
- Spence, Danville

Good to see that Rep. Shea-Porter is finally contradicting Pres. Obama, who claims that the bill will result in "skyrocketing" electricity rates.

Also, the CBO estimates that families annual electricity rates will increase by as much as $500 - $880/year. Man, those postage stamps are going to be expensive!

Can someone tell the Rep. that N-U-C-L-E-A-R in NOT a four letter word, and can be used in polite company (at least, outside of Democrat party caucuses)?

TB PIckens, the left's favorite 'oilman' abandoned his windmill pipe dream the other day. Guess he didn't want all that money he'd make.

India looks at this foolishness and can't believe their eyes. A silly energy policy and a sillier US Secretary of state. Neither can I.
- Leo, Canterbury

The Congresswoman either has not read the bill or does not comprehend what it says. I read all 1092 pages. It does say that 90% of all US residences within five years have to have a federal energy audit which produces a "label" to be affixed to your tax card and your deed. How many older homes in NH will get a lousy grade on energy efficiency? How about historic homes? And that won't affect ability to sell them, Ms. Shea-Porter? And how about the mandatory planning to redesign cities over 200,000 population? Will that be done for a "postage stamp a day". This OpEd by the Congresswoman merely shows what a lightweight intellect she is. Anyone who has read this bill can clearly see what a power grab it proposes to change our very way of life and the many indirect assaults on our pocket book, not the least of which is the many, many new government boards and advisory groups it creates. Just more weasels at the public trough! We'll remember this in 2010 Congresswoman! I urge each of you to read the bill online and compare it to the simplistic drivel written by our "public servant"!
- John Linville, Wolfeboro

This entire editorial is a carefully crafted lie. Shea-Porter can't possibly say what was and wasn't in the cap and trade bill she voted for, because the bill didn't actually exist yet when she voted for it. It was still being written.
- Jon, Manchester

The company I work at pays $1,200,000+ a year for electricity. I don't believe for one minute that this bill will create jobs. They will simply call in the riggers, contact the export agents and send our equipment and jobs to Asia. Where are the nuclear plants that are going to provide the cheap electricity that we need? I'll contact your office to get me a new job when this happens. Can you match my pay? Let's hope so. I'll need it to pay the extra $14.00 a month on my bill. The comptroller of my company assured me that this will put us out of business. I'll take his word over an ex social worker's word any day, when it comes to industry!
- Steve, Raymond