House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is threatening to take President Bush to court if he issues a signing statement as a way of sidestepping a carefully crafted compromise Iraq war spending bill.

Pelosi recently told a group of liberal bloggers, "We can take the president to court" if he issues a signing statement, according to Kid Oakland, a blogger who covered Pelosi's remarks for the liberal website dailykos.com.

Energize America has sent a comprehensive  people-powered message to the Hill that endorsed proven renewable technologies and distribution. What stopped The Efficient American Homes Act (EAHA) was one question.

How much does EAHA overlap other federal and state energy efficiency policies?

The EAHA is committed to establishing national standards of energy efficiency. We've identified shortcomings of federal mechanisms to implement minimum efficiency ratings. We've leveraged the value of financial incentives for household "investments." We've debated payback, though HUD recognizes 4 different valuation methods, and everyone relies on DOE's spurious data to discount residential projects.

Let's look at how the EAHA standards may actually relate to conditions at state level. Politics, utility structure, and development can create either a hostile or constructive environment for energy efficiency enforcement and positive outcomes.

... I signed a [Citizen (Re)] contract, mostly because this is the only way I could conceivably hope to get a solar power system on my roof. I'm 25 and just starting out, so I don't have the credit history or the income to secure a home equity loan to buy a $20,000 system. It seems that the only people who can afford PV systems are retirees.

I've already weatherproofed my house and switched out all my bulbs and I'm buying more efficient appliances as the ones that came with my house start to go. But I want to do more. ...
by Icelander at 12:22 PM on 12 Mar 2007

This poor lamb is America's future. He can't afford to be the change he seeks.

This is why we fight for The Efficient American Homes Act of 2007, using the law, using best practices, using science, using taxpayer dollars to stop climate damage.

11th hour draft below ...

A member of Congress asked the Energize America team to transform its concepts into material ready for Congressional action. The newly minted "Efficient American Homes of 2007 Act" (EAHA) seeks the right policy to help households make the "easy" choice.

Last week I started discussion about the economics of fossil fuel efficiency in American households. Turns out, since the oil shock of the '70s, the market and our government have relied more on "energy saving" than "energy efficient" measures to meet GHG policy goals.

Now we're under the gun --in more ways than one-- and need your help selecting key messages from the diary and your experiences. We need to Re-Energize Energize America!

Following is a more formal version of EAHA. Give it a good read, please. Let us know what you believe are the Top 5 points that can move our recommenations out of committee and onto the floor.

A member of Congress asked the Energize America  team to transform its concepts into material ready for Congressional action. This diary opens discussion on the economics of fossil fuel efficiency in American households.

The Act’s three provisions mixed education and financial incentives to promote energy savings: 1. tax credits to offset the costs of energy efficient home improvements; 2. a national campaign to demonstrate CFL benefits; and 3. government insured energy efficiency loans for property owners within Community-Based Energy Investment bond localities.

Is this sufficient to achieve nationalgoals? Energy saving is one of two fundamental strategies to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and fossil fuel dependencies. The other is fuel-type replacement such as solar energy. These strategies are complementary. But their applications and perceived value in the home improvement marketplace need help in the payback department.

To encourge, even accelerate, the rate at which we adopt energy savings the newly minted "Efficient American Homes of 2007 Act" seeks the right policy to help households make the "easy" choice.

AP filed this story to the tubes 1 hour ago.

WASHINGTON -
President Bush will propose a tax deduction of $7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for families regardless of whether they buy their own health insurance or receive medical coverage at work. [UPDATE:actual SOTU text below fold]

The proposal, to be announced Tuesday in his State of the Union address, is aimed at giving the uninsured an incentive to purchase a medical plan.

There's some sports analogy under the headline, I'm sure. The key strategic point is that Shrub LLP recovered the ball -- while the House awaits Senate affirmation of minimum wage and House ethics reform, not to mention the unitary asshole's signature.

Putting aside the fact that the unitary asshole continues to suck dry the treasury, American voters will be hard pressed to recognize two facts:

• Tax relief is no substitute for single-payer universal health care;
• and Tax relief is a GOP bribe to forgive 12 years of irresponsible, market-driven government,

when they only hear the words "tax relief." GOP candidates might like that pigskin enough to kick it down the road to '08.

Precis
In a recent diary, I was encouraged to perform a literary critique of Barack Obama's public addresses. At the time, I'd sardonically remarked that Obama owed his political genius, his muse, to Stephen Carter, author of Confessions of an Affirmative Action Baby and other post-black meditations on bourgeois society.  Prior to that, I've alluded cryptically to his capacity for political victory being a function of his status as a "Harvard-educated striver." He is erudite, even clever, and financially creditable. But this certification of his success is in turn indebted to the multivalent culture of suspended disbelief that is quotidian Americana -- the perennial tabla rasa, illiteracy, economic and societal disintegration, and the biennial historicism manufactured by MSM, wherein one discovers national identity in a particular persona.

I'll not digress further. Here's the "news":

LONDON (Reuters) - Imagine being able to check instantly whether or not statements made by politicians were correct. That is the sort of service Google Inc. boss Eric Schmidt believes the Internet will offer within five years.

Jeff Brown talked with PAUL MISENER and SCOTT CLELAND about the internet industry. Misener, former FCC attorney is VP, global public policy, Amazon.com. Cleland, of Precursor, a telecom industry research and consulting firm, is also chairman of NetCompetition.org, which is funded by telecom, cable and wireless companies.

They did not speculate about first amendment violations, digital products, or choice ("whether all content on the Internet is created equal"). They talked about minimizing the cost of competition for a handful of "telecommunications" retail/wholesale carriers: The Consumer Grid.

Following is a partial digest of a report on "preemptive" federal statutes that was commissioned by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA-30) and released online 6 June, 2006. The report is available as HTML summary and in a 54 pg. pdf format.

I don't deny that partisan bias may well be Waxman's motive for ordering this report; undoubtedly, there are other instances of nonpartisan support for law which suborns democracy. But I trust that its conclusions sufficiently illustrate how Preemptive Doctrine is being waged as well in the domestic theater, in our neighborhoods and comprehension of American civic life. I recommend you read the report in its entirety, then share this information with your Republican neighbors.  

He circled top-line policy. His 45-minute report on Congress' shennanigans didn't break news. And after the docents began to pass around the mike, he might as well have left.

source: Clayton, 25 April, 2006, csmonitor.com	source: Gastner, Shalzi and Newman, University of Michigan

Tuesday, Truthout.org and Christian Science Monitor published "In deregualtion of electric markets, a consumer pinch". The story investigates popular reaction to deregulation of the electric utility industry since the mid-90s. Data so far demonstrates, consumer retail prices have risen faster than expected despite price caps (or politicized formula) devised to ease customers' transition to market rates. States which have not legislated for the issue are thinking twice about the promise of lower consumer costs. It is interesting to note that WV and Texas red outliers, OK, NM, and AR, have recently pulled the plug.

A House bill HR 5052 was introduced March 30, 2006, to stop the fraudulent practices of fake clinics. Congress returns from recess April 24. Planned Parenthood is leading public lobby to support this Congressinal bill.

Tell your representative to take a stand on these invidious practices  Click through to the PP-sponsored contact form directed to your representative.

Make your voice heard today to control who sees and uses your medical records by sending a message to your Congressman today.

This weekend Google feasted on victory  -- "Google Avoids " or "Google Rebuffs" -- along with class action allegations of blacklisting. Associate General Counsel for the corp Nicole Wong issued a googleblog.blogspot exclusive statement titled "Judge tells DOJ 'No' on search queries" which coyly admitted

privacy was not the most significant legal issue in this case (because the government wasn't asking for personally identifiable information)