Prepping for Cap and Trade effects
Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
Alright,
As wrong as it is, it's a reality. No use pissing and moaning - we're going to have to deal with it. What exactly does it mean for us and what exactly are we going to have to do? I've moved my portfolio away from anything where I cover utilities anyway. Nevertheless, all commodities will raise in price because of this in the face of massive amounts of printed money...
Is it time to re-examine certain commodities markets to protect the value of dollars today because of the inevitable increased costs of getting it out of the ground?
Tim
Well since this is now moving to the Senate you should contact your Senators and let them know how you feel about it.
In person - on the phone - in emails - through US post office.
To their state office - their local office - their DC office.
This bill will not pass in its present form in the Senate so it will be changed and go to committee and then might be voted on again so you need do the same for your house members.
Once the final bill is out and you know what your dealing with you can make plans - till then - make your opinion known (not just here - but where it counts - in DC).
Interesting that Nancy Pelosi pushed through this legislation when we both agree that LA is a horrible example to the world of air quality.
I was late to reply to this post so I won't address the whole thing (you already corrected yourself on pollution)
Jeff
Between a top notch CPA and tax strategist, you may spend $10-15K per year, but if you own a full-time business, you'll likely save that amount many times over...
Decreasing the amount of pollution in the air is a good thing.
The rain does that. Yet the greenhouse gasses are mostly water and cloud related. How does the two confllicting things get by within the same "program"
The pollution of LAX are during stagnant days. We only need air movement to get rid of it.
When air moves and how it moves or when it rains can not be controlled by man. So lets tax ourselves to give ourselves or our children something we can not have any affect upon.
Now if you want to tax those business that have been proven to introduce an unhealthy substance into the water or land, then go ahead, but DO NOT TAX me or my business for something someone else did.
That is the basic affect of cap and trade is to tax everyone for everything they can think of just because they can not make enough to pay for all their programs during a recession such as this.
And just to reiterate on this bill (as it sounds like my original comments were lost in the noise), I think it's horrible...and while I have no problem (again, in theory) with a single party controlling congress, the senate and the white house, it's a perfect example of the crap that can happen in that situation. This was partisan politics at its worst.
Most disappointingly, while I've been trying to withhold criticism and give Obama leeway to do the right things, I think he single-handedly broke about three or four campaign promises on this bill alone...
You got that right, it's all about money (and votes). I think another reason they're moving so fast Mike is because come election time the liberals may not be a majority which obviously would derail their plans.
Jeff
Ron Paul in 2012 anyone?
Like most of us, I'm praying this thing doesn't get passed by the senate, and I'll be contacting my representatives.
I've been trying to find a synopsis of the bill but I can't seem to. Do you only have to make the improvements when you sell? Because then in theory you could just hold the house long term with tenants and never make the improvements.
I hate to drag this topic off the politics of global warming but one part of the bill that I've heard about has to do with property. It seems that the government will impose some kind of standard for weatherization before it can be sold. It seems to me that this could radically affect my cost of doing business or the value of my properties.
Yes, it will pay for itself if you can hold the property for 80 years
This is the part of the bill that worries me the most--the utilities increase is peanuts compared to this. If this bill passes, before you're allowed to sell your house, it will have to be approved by a Green Inspector (this the "jobs jobs jobs" part of the bill Pelosi was gushing about--they will be training thousands of people to be inspectors). All of the windows have to be a certain type, all appliances must be energy star rated (so much for used appliances) and the AC unit must be of a certain type. Also I think there are rules about insulation. Since it's one sized fits all rules, it doesn't matter if if your in Alaska or the Florida Keys, you still have to comply with the same rules. Thousands of dollars of improvements just to sell your house.
This is why we have to get this thing stopped, or at least modified to remove the insanity about residential property. I go to a weekly discussion group (not real estate, but some of the people there are homeowners). I'm bringing handouts about this thing to try make people aware of it. Tell everyone you know.
I don't know if the "Audit" part is true or not but either way having the stupid govt. step into the private sector and tell us anything about how we should buy and sell Real Estate is ridiculous.
I don't know about you guys buy any deal I'm looking at I pay for my own inspections from a contractor that I trust and I know what needs to be fixed before an offer is made. Having the govt. butt into any deal to tell someone they need to buy a certain type of window or any appliances is a joke no matter what type of deal we're talking about.
I can see it now, some pimple faced 18 year old kid with a govt. badge telling us we need energy star appliances before we can sell.
NO MORE GOVT. CONTROL!
Jeff
Not saying it's any better or worse, just that these problems have been around for a long time...they're not new...
I'm not saying you agree with them but you certainly don't seem to be upset either.
Jeff
I am equally upset with the old regulation and the new regulation. It makes no sense to me how someone can be more or less upset with the existing than they are with the new. It's all regulation...why does it matter if it's 25 years old or just passed last week?
From my reading...
Section 204 of the bill addresses labeling programs, and I can't find anything that requires an audit on the purchase or sale of an existing residential property.
As for the REEP section of the bill (Section 202), it merely says that you can't qualify for public funds without meeting certain labeling requirements. If you don't want/need public money for your purchase/sale, you don't need to worry about an audit or labeling.
Btw, the question about mandatory audits for residential properties was posed to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and they made it clear that no mandatory audits would be required for existing homeowners to sell their properties. Not saying they're necessarily telling the truth, but that answer jives with the language in the bill, from my reading.
If you find anything in the bill that contradicts these things, please post it...I'd love to see it.
So to answer your question: why does it matter if it's 25 years old or just passed last week?
It still has to pass the Senate doesn't it? Voicing our opinion on this bill could do some good.
For a guy who supports Ron Paul (and I have nothing against him), I'm waiting to see you get pissed about this.
Jeff
I guess we'll see in 3 years what the will of the plurality is.
I understand what your saying and I do the same thing you do as far as writing letters and signing petitions.
In addition I choose to get angry and inform as many people as I possibly can. It's great that people have the right to vote and elect who the majority feels is best suited for the job, what's not great is when those people are comprised of uneducated voters that don't know what or who their voting for. By voicing my opinion I have helped educate people about bills like this Cap and Trade nonsense that they would otherwise not pay attention to. By getting pissed and telling others how bills like this will directly affect them you can create more opposition to it and have more and more people calling and sending letters to their representatives.
When I say get pissed, I'm not saying GRAB YOUR PITCHFORK AND STORM THE CAPITAL, I'm saying voice your opinion and don't accept this crap.
I understand that the next administration can overturn the legislation but why not try to stop it before it's passed?
Jeff