BuzzChatter Thursday: Blunt bemoans the carbon tax
Howdy.
• “The carbon tax would have a huge impact on our state. We’re very coal dependent. It would have a devastating impact on our utility bills.” — Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican, on Wednesday expressing his opposition to a carbon tax.
Blunt also is upset with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for not allowing amendments to be considered in connection with an energy bill now before the Senate. Blunt said Missouri relies on coal for more than 80 percent of its electricity needs. Missouri would see utility bills jump 19 percent if a carbon tax is levied, the senator said. Then again, environmentalists say the big increases are designed to wean the country off coal.• “Unalienable.” — the key word in a proposed constitutional amendment regarding the right to bear arms that Missouri lawmakers are sending to a vote this year.
The amendment, passed Wednesday (please note the vote came in an election year), defines the right to bear arms as “unalienable.” Some may have thought that right already was clearly specified in the U.S. Constitution. Democrats opposed the move because they said it will make it harder to regulate firearms.• “I feel privileged to be associated with your great city, which endured a genocide that constituted Europe’s darkest period since World War II.” — former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole in a statement
about being named an honorary citizen
of the city of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Dole got the recognition for his contribution in stopping aggression and preserving Bosnia and Herzegovina 20 years ago, which the senator has called one of his greatest achievements.• “I have never sought to raise a single penny on the backs of four murdered Americans.” — South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House select committee on Benghazi.
Gowdy is urging his fellow Republicans not to use the tragedy as a way to raise money for this year’s mid-term elections. But Politico points out that Gowdy’s pleas appear to be going unheeded.This story was originally published May 8, 2014 at 7:00 AM with the headline "BuzzChatter Thursday: Blunt bemoans the carbon tax."