Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Suzia van Swol-University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service

President Obama may be getting too friendly with Venezuelan President.

House Republicans will have conversations this week concerning the after math of the Summit of the Americas. The summit, which was held last week in Trinidad and Tobago, raised concerns for Republicans who have taken a hard line against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who for years has ridiculed the U.S. and openly criticized its foreign policy.

Congressman Mike Pence (Ind.), Chairman of the House Republican Conference and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, outlined the upcoming week during a weekly pen and pad session, and said House Republicans will discuss Cap-and-Trade legislation which Democrats are proposing.

Cap-and-Trade would put a limit on the amount of greenhouse gas an oil or electric company can emit, and anything exceeding a set “cap” results in companies buying pollution allowances or credits from companies who have not exceeded their limits.

Pence said that Republicans are in the process of not only developing a rebuttal but offering alternatives to the “legislation that could result in utility rates of every American household increasing by $3,128 per year,” and leaves Republicans demanding details said Pence.

This dollar estimate is based on an Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, but according to a Pence staffer, Prof. John Reillyin, who is in charge of the study, believes the number should be cited lower due to anticipated rebates.

Pence said that “we are using the numbers that are in the public domain right now, the Democratic leadership has offered no numbers.”

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN) joined Pence in his discussions and said that there are other options that should be included in Cap-and-Trade legislation such as clean coal technologies and bio-diesels, and that it would be a shame to take things completely off the table simply because Democrats “are rushing to the finish line, trying to get in a tax as fast as they can,” said Blackburn.

“Congress has a gun held to our head, and we grab it and we shoot ourselves in the chest, ya know because that’s the action that they are taking this year,” she said.