Press Continues to Reprint False Luetkemeyer Claims Without Challenge

I continue to be amazed that statements from Blaine Luetkemeyer are rebroadcast without challenge by reporters.  This man has an incredible record of spewing false information about federal cap-and-trade and health care reform proposals, but continues to get a pass from almost every press outlet in his district.  A new story from KRCG is just the latest example:

The Miller County republican said democrats want to use half of the $600 billion in annual energy taxes raised by cap and trade to finance President Obama's health care program.

In fact, Luetkemeyer said the president's health care plans are totally dependent on the passage of cap and trade.

"These people who are putting this together are truly brilliant from the standpoint that you never write a check to the IRS,” Luetkemeyer said. “You never write a check that says "tax" on it, but everything you purchase is going to have this built in cost, this built in tax to it, that you are going to be paying. It's a very insidious bill that is sitting there, in my judgment, going to be ruining our economy. They don't even deny the fact anymore that it is going to cost two-and-a-half-million jobs."

Cap and trade has already cleared the house and awaits debate in the senate.

Luetkemeyer said it would force middle-class Americans to spend more of their paychecks on things like utilities, gasoline and groceries.

He said the plan would cost the average American family an extra $4,000 a year in energy taxes.

While the revenue side of the health care reform equation remains partially unresolved, Luetkemeyer's statement that any of the health care bills "are totally dependent on the passage of cap and trade" is just false.  No one has said the health care proposals in Congress will be free, but the President has committed to producing revenue neutral legislation. The two pieces of legislation are entirely independent. 

We've discussed Luetkemeyer's bogus, ridiculous "$4,000 a year" claim at length, as have many, many other independent observers.  In reality, the Waxman-Markey climate legislation would cost about $175 per household per year, according to the Congressional Budget office. The inclusion of Luetkemeyer's statement without challenge at this point is just inexcusable.