President Obama's attempt to use the oil spill in the Gulf to push for cap & trade legislation doesn't seem to be working. According to one sponsor of the energy, bill the inclusion of the job killing, energy cost raising scheme is keeping the legislation far below the 60 vote threshold needed for it to pass in the Senate. But that won't stop either of them from following the 'never let a crisis go to waste' philosophy.

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Appearing on CNN's State of the Union, Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut), a sponsor of the bill, claimed about 50 senators support the bill while 30 others oppose it and approximately 20 are undecided. (source) Senator Lieberman's count confirms comments made by several senators after a Democratic caucus on the energy bill last week.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont.), who like Senator Lieberman caucuses with the Democrats and supports cap & trade said, "For a variety of reasons, with virtually no Republicans supporting us, it would mean that every Democrat has to step up to the plate. Do I think we have 60 votes to come up with strong global warming legislation? No." (source)

While President Obama didn't specifically mention the carbon tax in his recent Oval Office speech, he did attempt to use the current Gulf crisis to campaign for a "transition away from fossil fuels" saying, "The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now." Phrases such as 'transition from fossil fuels' and 'embrace a clean energy future' have become euphemisms for the carbon tax now that the initial 'cap & trade' euphemism was exposed.

In his televised interview this morning, Senator Lieberman also tried to use the ongoing crisis to play politics when he spoke of passing his energy bill, "We’ve got to do it. And I hope the spill in the Gulf will motivate us to do it. Because the less we depend on oil, the less chance there is of another environmental disaster like this." (source)

With these kinds of fear mongering, tax raising and job killing ideas, one wonders why Mr. Lieberman ever left the Democratic Party.