It really does boggle the mind how someone can continue to cite a study and spout a figure even after an author of that study says you are misrepresenting the study and fabricating the figure. Such is the case with our very own Michele Bachmann and her latest Star Tribune Commentary about the cap and trade proposals of the Obama Administration.
From the article:
According to an analysis by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the average American household could expect its yearly energy bill to increase by $3,128 per year.
It sounds like an impressive figure, right? SHOCKING! Unfortunately, the figure has been discredited and debunked by none other than an author of the very study which Bachmann holds in such high regard. From a PolitiFact article at the end of March:
"It's just wrong," said John Reilly, an energy, environmental and agricultural economist at M.I.T. and one of the authors of the report. "It's wrong in so many ways it's hard to begin."
Not only is it wrong, but he told the House Republicans it was wrong when they asked him.
"Someone from the House Republicans had called me (March 20) and asked about this," Reilly said. "I had explained why the estimate they had was probably incorrect and what they should do to correct it, but I think this wrong number was already floating around by that time."
So, even though an AUTHOR of the study calls it "wrong in so many ways" AND has already been in contact with House Republicans to tell them it is wrong, Bachmann has chosen to spread this lie to the public. So, what is the "cost" according to Reilly? He lays it out in an article by Media Matters:
We assumed in the analysis we did that the revenue is returned to households. From data in the report we can calculate the economic cost in each year (percentage loss times the base welfare level in each year), and divide this by the US population, and then multiply this amount by four to estimate the cost for a representative family of four. We further apply an economic discount rate of 4% to get the Net Present Value (NPV) cost in each year in the future. Doing this we find that the NPV cost per family of four starts at about $75 in 2015, rises to nearly $510 by 2025, and then falls to $205 by 2050.
According to Reilly, the cost will be $75 for a family of four in 2015. This is obviously a far cry from the $3,000 plus figure being pushed by Bachmann and her Republican overlords. Even at its most expensive in 2025, the cost will be $510 which is roughly 1/6 of the cost Bachmann tries to cite. Perhaps if Bachmann spent more time thinking for herself rather than blindly pushing the lies created by her Republican Study Committee bosses she would realize the lies coming out of her mouth. Unfortunately, I am increasingly of the belief that she does realize the lies but continues to blindly follow the RSC anyway.
Cross Posted on Dump Bachmann
1 Response to "Same Old Cap & Trade Lies..."
Way to tell the truth on this. It seems every conservative I know quotes $3k figure on cap and trade as gospel.
Ex. http://www.radioactiveconstitution.com