I realize that Republicans need to work in the realm of what’s possible, but just how spineless is Senator Lindsey Graham to offer (and get passed) an amendment to the Senate budget bill which says that the Senate will not consider any bill which has a national energy tax “on middle income taxpayers"?

In other words, if you make more than $200,000 (filing singly) or $250,000 (filing jointly), the Senate can consider a bill that would hit you with a national energy tax.

(You can read the amendment at the bottom of the center column of THIS page.)

The amendment passed 65-33. Don’t you think it would have passed by a similar margin if it had not had the liberal-pleasing potential to raise energy taxes on “rich” people, particularly given that Senator John Thune’s amendment which is intended to prevent the implementation of cap and trade if the implementation would raise energy or gasoline prices passed by a vote of 89-8? Well, maybe it wouldn’t have…because “they” know that the deepest desire of Barack Obama and the cult of Algore is to raise energy prices…if they can do so primarily by attacking the “rich", so much the better, right? In truth, there are probably some radical environmentalists who would prefer to raise energy costs for everyone even more than just on rich people because their first goal is to destroy the economy; destroying just the rich is a nice start but not really their holy grail.

Lindsey Graham is spineless. His “moderate” position on something so fundamental represents much of what’s wrong with the GOP.

I should note that an amendment by Senator Barbara Boxer which passed the Senate by a 54-43 vote may sidestep Thune’s amendment if the government says that it’s sending the money back to consumers. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Have government raise the price of gasoline by a buck or two per gallon and then decide, in some way that I’m sure will be just as rational and fair as all other government spending decisions, how to send that money back to us. Any guess as to what percentage of the dollar you’ll get back?

Obama wants to maintain the Bush tax cuts except for upper-income earners. He wants to keep the estate tax. And now even Republicans are giving him a way to increase other taxes on the most productive members of society (if you’re willing to accept income as a proxy for productivity, which it may not always be…)

It’s just another little step toward Atlas’ final shrug.

And it’s just another little reason to throw out RINOs like Lindsey Graham.

[In these days of extreme political shenanigans, I realize that I may be mis-analyzing Graham’s amendment. If any Senators are reading this – or anyone else who thinks there’s something so “inside baseball” going on here that I totally missed it – please let me know!]