In a guest commentary in the Sunday Telegraph Bill Hite, general president of the United Association (UA)–it’s a labor union–advocates for the American Power Act, which is a federal green energy scam you may know as cap and trade.  It taxes energy so the federal government can then fund union labor to build even more expensive energy.  Mr. Hite is very excited.  He says he’s read it.

Here are a few of his selling points.

It returns two thirds of all revenues not dedicated to reducing the deficit back to consumers through discounts and rebates.  Once fully underway 100 percent of revenues will be returned to the American people.

Taken in the proper context you are meant to believe that the extra taxes you will pay on energy will be returned to you.  All of it.  100%.  So are you thinking, wow, I get it all back–sign me up?  Or are you asking why bother?   Why take my money if you are only going to give it all back to me? 

Because they are not going to give it back–to you. 

This is liberal thought-speech.  You might as well say that every tax dollar goes back to the American people in this context, as long as they are in America, and people.  Adding a trillion dollars to the cost of government gives you more government which is your government-so you got 100% back. Get it?  And the discounts and credits come with strings and provisos and restrictions.  Lucky you.

This is actually just a regressive tax on types of energy they don’t like, which will hit lower income people hardest.  They will then give it back to preferred industries and special interests, at union protected rates of pay, and whenever possible, for something that can be misconstrued to be a green job.  And odds are good if this administration creates green jobs the way it created “good paying private sector jobs” restricting free speech will be sold as a jobs bill.

So it’s perfectly understandable that a Union president would back such a thing.

But Bill is ignoring the inconvenient truth.  Stripping revenue out of the entire economy for energy will make everything more expensive, driving up the cost of living while driving down employment and wage growth–except for those nice union jobs which will not be abundant in such circumstances. 

So Bill is excited about a bill and what the government will do for Bill, but he’s not all that interested in green jobes, green energy, or you.