Local Government TV

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Callahan Opposes Cap and Trade, But He Supports it, Too

LV Congressman Charlie Dent's campaign team has taken Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan to task for two seemingly inconsistent positions on cap and trade. Here's the latest:

John Callahan just contradicted himself on a major national issue again. Mayor John Callahan most assuredly supports cap and trade, the national energy tax. Callahan signed his name to the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement. A significant part of that pact is the Mayors’ agreement to urge the U.S. Congress to create a “national emission trading system,” more commonly known as cap and trade.

Candidate John Callahan declared two days ago that he opposes a “cap and trade” national energy tax because “it would endanger jobs or derail the economy,” according to Callahan’s campaign manager.1 So which of Callahan’s positions is true?

At a U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Miami, the Conference adopted the resolution, “City Priorities for a Cap and Trade System,” which stated on behalf of the Mayors: “The US Conference of Mayors urges Congress to pass legislation that creates a market for carbon through development of a fair and flexible national cap and trade system.” It further declares that “the U.S. Conference of Mayors supports using revenues generated by a cap and trade program to recognize the important role that local governments play in climate protection by channeling some portion of funds generated directly to local governments in support of continued and expanded efforts to reduce emissions.” (Links attached below)

Congressman Dent stated succinctly: “Mayor John Callahan wants a national energy tax to pay for more government spending.”

When the House of Representatives did pass a Cap and Trade bill, Callahan said nothing. But now he claims to oppose it. Callahan remains a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Did he forget his support for cap and trade, or simply think voters of the Fifteenth district wouldn’t notice his contradictory position?

“Is John Callahan going to send his membership card back to the Conference in protest for supporting a program that will ‘derail the economy?’” asked Shawn Millan, campaign manager, Charlie Dent for Congress. “If John Callahan now realizes that he was wrong to sign his name to a plan that would be detrimental to the economy, then Callahan should admit that to the people of the Fifteenth District and explain where he really stands on cap and trade.”

Notes:

1. Pennsylvania Avenue, the Morning Call, “Dent, Callahan can agree on this,” posted by Nicole Radzievich, June 28, 2010

Links:

Resolution: http://usmayors.org/resolutions/76th_conference/chhs_03.asp

Agreement: http://www.usmayors.org/climateprotection/agreement.htm

Signatories: http://www.usmayors.org/climateprotection/list.asp

12 comments:

  1. this one's really a stretch.

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  2. most everything bo says aout jc is a stretch. he is a dent bootlicker

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  3. What is important here is that Callahan is the Democrat. He gets my vote.

    Allentown Democrat Voter

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  4. Too late. Bush and the Republicans derailed the economy a long time ago and now we're paying for it.

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  5. This is the true Reagan legacy.

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  6. Yes. Yes. It's Bush's and Bush's and Reagan's and Eisenhower's and Lincoln's fault. Hell, if Lincoln hadn't freed the slaves, Saint Robert Byrd would have had to find another way to the top of his party beside lynching blacks and opposing civil rights laws with Al Gore's alleged daddy.

    What's important is that Sam Bennett or Rick Orloski or Joe Long or Fred Rooney's ghost or whomever defeat Charlie Dent and provide Our Dear Leader with more support to continue his brilliant work.

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  7. "this one's really a stretch."

    This doesnt seem like much of a stretch to me. He supports Cap and Trade in action, but tries to hide from that support in words.

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  8. "What is important here is that Callahan is the Democrat. He gets my vote."

    This is the electorate that Callahan is hoping comes out en masse. Ones that dont ask him anything about his positions, qualifications, or background. The uninformed, blind loyalists.

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  9. 3:04 -

    That, if I am not mistaken, was exactly ADV's point ;)

    ADV Rocks.

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  10. I get a range of political magazines from liberal (The Nation, used to get New Repubic also) to neo-con (National Review) to paleo-con (American Conservative and New American).

    One of those that I received in the mail today had their latest "Freedom Index", which ranks "based on their adherance to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements."

    Dent comes in overall at 62%, largely owing to issues 1-10 coming in at 40%. The last round (issues 21-30) he comes in at 78%. Speaker Pelosi has an overall 0%.

    Interestingly, Senator Specter has an overall of 17%, and Representative Sestak has an overall of 0%. I think the Toomey--Sestak race (as predicted in other venues) will be a very interesting contest offering actual (rather than just rhetorical) differences between candidates.

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  11. Lighthouse, what magazine?

    That's about where Charlie comes in w/ the ratings of nonpartisan publications like Cobngressional Quarterly. He is a centrist who leans to the right. I would prefer a centrist who leans left, but am very happy with Dent. He works hard, does his homework and is more accessible than any Congressman I've ever seen.

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