What You Should Know About H.R. 2454

You ARE NOT Going to Believe What Congress is DOING NOW!

  What You Should Know About 

H.R. 2454

I got this email today. Tell me what you think about it! I encourage you all to read this, as well as the Google linked articles and see if it is something that effects you.

This report is completely amazing, and for me it's very upsetting.

"I've had enough. If you own your home you may want to check this out – at the end of this email is the Google link to verify...If the country thinks the housing market is depressed now, wait until everyone sees this – no one will be buying or selling their homes in the future.

We encourage you to read the provisions of the Cap and Trade Bill that has passed the House of Representatives and being considered by the Senate. We are ready to join the next march on Washington! This Congress and whoever on their staffs that write this junk are truly out to destroy the middle class of the USA ... A License required for your house...no longer just for cars and mobile homes .... Thinking about selling your house - A look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and trade bill).

This is unbelievable! Only the beginning from this administration! Home owners take note and tell your friends and relatives who are home owners!

Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. H.R. 2454, the "Cap and Trade" bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced.

The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year. No one is excluded.  However, once the lower classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure these voters get a tax refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost."

It is this part that irritates me the most, that people who pay no taxes or very little get back huge refunds, enough to buy cars and stuff, when we pay too much income tax (in my opinion) and see no reprieve. There is really something very wrong with this type of a tax system. If it were fair and just, I would not be so angry about it, but when my husband's employees get more tax returns than they pay in taxes, it makes me angry.

Thus, you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America will have to pay even more since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out everyone else. But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has actually read) has many more surprises in it.

Probably the worst one is this: A year from now you won't be able to sell your house. Yes, you read that right. The caveat is (there always is a caveat) that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes ("mobile homes") are included.

In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator. To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured. Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements.

Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a "label" in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner. If you don't get a high enough rating, you can't sell.

Did you catch that provision? You must have your home measured to meet what the administrator says are the new requirement level. Then get a license and POST your rating before you can sell your home - if you can afford to pay for the retrofitting. I guess your regular inspections don't matter any more, even though you have to pay for one before you buy and/or sell your home. 


I have a question: Why is Washington SO Bent on controlling the middle class and on breaking their backs? There has to be a reason they feel so compelled to do so, and it must have something to do with money and power - as we see as we read more about this bill.

In ADDITION, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act. The EPA administrator, appointed by the President, will run the Cap and Trade program (AKA the "American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009") and is authorized to make any future changes to the regulations and standards he alone determines to be in the government's best interest.

Requirements are set low initially so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new standards every year. The Act itself contains annual required increases in energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings. However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any time.

The requirement is just going to hurt businesses even more and they will be even less likely to hire more people or spend money on advertisement and product improvement. This will do even more harm to society.

Sect. 202 Building Retrofit Program mandates a national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing homes across America. Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act.

You should expect requirements such as "can't have an income of more than $50K per year", "home selling price can't be more than $125K", or anything else to target the upper middle class (and that's YOU) and prevent them from qualifying for the grants.

Why do you think the government (i.e., the Obama administration) is SO BENT on forcing out the middle class in selling their homes? What will they gain from it?

• In my opinion, this is an attempt to force the middle class to walk away from their homes.
• What happens when people walk away from their homes? The usual answer is the banks get them.
• Who has control of the banks today? Again, the usual answer is the government. Because of the bail out, government controls many the major mortgage and loan companies!

Most of us won't get a dime [from grant money] and will have to pay the entire cost of the retrofit out of our own pockets - if we can afford it. More transfer of wealth, more "change you can believe in."

Sect. 204 Building Energy Performance Labeling Program establishes a labeling program that for each individual residence will identify the achieved energy efficiency performance for "at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act." 

This means that within 5 years 90% of all residential homes in the U.S. must be measured and labeled.

Now, are you ready for the real reason for all this new red tape? MONEY, of course!

The EPA administrator will get $50M each year to enforce the labeling program. The Secretary of the Department of Energy will get an additional $20M each year to help enforce the labeling program.Who do you think the President will put in these positions? Can you say A.C.O.R.N? Or perhaps some of his Party's favorites like Al Gore, Howard Dean, and Tom Dashcel. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. Scary as all this is, however, we need to speak out and do our part to influence Washington!

Some of this money will, of course, be spent on coming up with tougher standards each year. Oh, the label will be like a license for your car. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having this label.

And, just like your car license, you will probably be required to get a new label every so often - maybe every year. But, the government estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only cost about $200 each time. Remember what they said about the auto smog inspections when they first started: that in California it would only cost $15. That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50 for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from the home labeling program.

Sect. 304 Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes establishes new energy efficiency guidelines for the National Building Code and mandates at 304(d) that 1 year after enactment of this Act, all state and local jurisdictions must adopt the National Building Code energy efficiency provisions or must obtain a certification from the federal government that their state and/or local codes have been brought into full compliance with the National Building Code energy efficiency standards.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=A+License+required+for+your+home-Cap+and+Trade&btnG=Google+Search

IF WE DON"T VOTES THESE CROOKS/NUTS OUT NEXT YEAR----WE WILL GET WHAT WE DESERVE! 

If you own your home you may want to check this out – at the end of this email is the Google link to verify ... If the country thinks the housing market is depressed now, wait until everyone sees this – no one will be buying or selling their homes in the future.