Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13)  joined with 211 other sane members of the U.S. House of Representatives and voted against H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey global warming bill. This principled stand by Congressman Buchanan is applauded by Red County - Florida. This disaster of a bill, according to Congressman Buchanan, "create[s] a new bureaucracy to oversee the government's mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is another government over-reach on the heels of unwarranted bailouts, reckless spending and spiraling debt.

Buchanan points out that, "by imposing tough new requirements and increased costs on manufacturers, the bill puts American companies at a competitive disadvantage with manufacturers in other countries like China, India and Mexico. The bill would drive jobs overseas as our country struggles to climb out of a deep recession."

According to the Heritage Foundation Center for Data Analysis economic impact study of this energy tax (so-called “cap and trade”), key sectors of our economy are hard hit including, transportation, chemicals, wood products, machinery, paper, plastics & rubber, electrical equipment & appliances, construction and, of course, manufacturing.

The Heritage Foundation noted, "As Manhattan Institute senior fellow Jim Manzi has noted the U.S. should not expect any net economic damage from global warming before 2100. So the net threat for the United States from global warming over the next 90 years is essentially zero."

So why the big push to vote in yet another huge bill that will further destroy the American economy? The statist Democrat Party wants more control over our lives by regulating what we drive, what temperature we set our thermostats at and how our electricity is produced. This is not about saving the planet it is about destroying the U.S. economy and subsequently spreading the misery. This is government control out of control.

As Congressman Buchanan said, "Washington is broken, and nowhere is this more evident than in the fact that complicated, far-reaching legislation was brought to the floor when no member could possibly have read it ahead of time." Another dangerous bill rushed through Congress with no one reading it.

What is the cost to each American? According to the Heritage Foundation the 1,200-plus page Waxman-Markey climate change legislation is nothing more than an energy tax in disguise that by 2035 will raise:

• Gasoline prices by 58 percent
• Natural gas prices by 55 percent
• Home heating oil by 56 percent
• Worst of all, electricity prices by 90 percent

Although proponents of the bill are pointing to grossly underestimated and incorrect costs, the reality is when all the tax impacts have been added up, the average per-family-of-four costs rise by $2,979 per year. In the year 2035 alone, the cost is $4,609. And the costs per family for the whole energy tax aggregated from 2012 to 2035 are $71,493.

Washington is beyond broken, it is Humpty Dumpty and we the people will not be able to put it back together again until 2010. I expect the greenies in Florida to be outraged with Congressman Buchanan and anyone else who voted against this abomination, that is until the bill for this legislation hits their homes.

I cannot think of a better validation of Congressman Buchanan's vote against this the greatest hoax ever legislated than the expected attacks from environmentalists. You know those ideologues who believe human beings are an infestation upon the earth (like the large cockroach in Men in Black II). The same ones who are against off shore drilling in Florida. This is another in a long line of major legislative disasters since Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. I can hardly wait for their next act of national suicide - nationalized health care.

America is in a deep economic hole and Democrats, with the help of eight Republicans, keep on digging. Talk about a "shovel steady" project.

As Michael Kerr from the RedCounty.com editorial staff notes:

Now, to the question of the day. Which eight Republicans sold out their Party, their constituents and taxpayers across the country? Here is the short list for retirement in 2010.

Mary Bono Mack (California)

Dave Reichert (Washington State)

Mike Castle (Delaware)

Mark Steven Kirk (Illinois)

Frank LoBiondo (New Jersey)

John M. McHugh (New York)

Chris Smith (New Jersey)

Leonard Lance (New Jersey)

If Cap and Trade becomes law, it will amount to the largest tax increase in our nation's history. These eight Republicans just made that a very real possibility.