“Democrats are not going to sweep this issue under the rug. If the administration tries to censor scientists or sweep science under the rug, they’re not going to get away with it.“ So declared Rep. Henry Waxman three years ago, in the wake of allegations by NASA climatologist James Hansen and others that the Bush administration was muzzling their alarms about climate change. At the time, everyone agreed with Waxman that it was very, very wrong for the Bush administration not to let dissenters say anything they wanted.

Although the health care debate has sucked nearly every ounce of air out of other policy debates, it’s important for Americans to remember another piece of legislation being pushed by the Obama administration: cap and trade. The House narrowly passed a bloated, 1,000-plus-page behemoth loaded with corporate welfare, pork, and perverse incentives (making it more than a little like the stimulus bill, in that respect). The Senate has yet to act on the bill, and there are doubts it can make it through, even with the Democrats holding a filibuster-proof majority in the upper chamber.

Global-warming skeptics frequently argue that the computer models used to predict climate change cannot begin to account for the complexity of the real world. Yet when it comes to the economic consequences of cap-and-trade legislation supported by liberals who want to mitigate climate change, conservative skeptics can be very precise indeed.

Up and down the streets of Richmond, the struggle of small-business owners is apparent. Too many storefronts have closed their doors, leaving too many business owners unable to fulfill the American Dream. But with each passing day, consumers are spending more dollars on goods and services, reviving the hopes of small business. However, a climate bill under review in Congress may harm the economic recovery that millions of entrepreneurs are counting on to help their firms not only survive but grow.

America is at its best when it is a land of equal opportunity for all. The United States of America should be a level playing field for everyone to achieve to the best of his or her talent, hard work, and creativity, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or gender—a meritocracy. Common sense—and indeed history—shows that people and countries prosper with the promotion of initiative, personal empowerment, and individual and family responsibility, rather than sapping dependence on a nanny government. Clearly, the best social program is a job.

If a revolution takes root throughout the country and no one in Washington hears it, does the revolution exist? In our representative system, the answer is yes—and members of both parties ought to start paying attention if they hope to survive the 2010 midterm elections intact. We’ve heard a lot about political sea changes in the past decade. Only five years ago, the re-election of George W. Bush and the increase of Republican ranks in Congress led GOP strategists to predict a generational realignment in favor of the party of Lincoln. But as the war in Iraq grew increasingly divisive and conservatives blanched at the GOP’s flagging commitment to small government, the Republican Party began to look like it was imploding.

With so much bad legislation snaking through Washington these days, it’s tough to keep track of it all. It’s almost as if the president and the Democratic Congress want to pass bills before anyone else knows what’s knows what’s in them. Aided by a supine press corps, this tactic worked for the stimulus package, and it allowed the House to pass—by a polar bear’s whisker—cap-and-tax legislation.

Officials receive letters from individuals and groups imploring them to vote this way or that. Some of them are well-written and convey reasonable arguments. Then there are the other kind. Virginia Rep. Tom Perriello (D-5th) received a letter recently and something struck the staff as strange. A search of previous mail found several letters that said pretty much the same thing. All of the letters came from organizations representing minority groups; all urged Perriello to vote against the American Clean Energy and Security Act, commonly known as cap-and-trade. They were forgeries, intended to suggest that groups generally affiliated with Democrats opposed the party’s energy program.

They held up signs: “Government-run health care makes me sick.“ “Can we be more disgusted? Yes we can.“ “No Obama care.“ They chanted slogans: “You work for me!“ “We’ve had enough!“ “Webb vote no, or you will go!“ In downtown Richmond, more than 200 people marched yesterday outside the office of Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., to show their opposition to President Barack Obama’s proposed cap-and-trade energy policy and his health-care plan.

Protesting against President Barack Obama’s health-care and cap-and-trade proposals, several hundred Virginians gathered today outside the Richmond area offices of Sens. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, and Mark R. Warner, D-Virginia. Pickets organized by the Richmond Tea Party and Americans for Prosperity chanted slogans and waved signs to urge the two senators to vote against the proposals.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi might or might not fancy herself an admirer of Thomas Jefferson, but she clearly does not share his belief that great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities. Despite strenuous efforts on behalf of a cause she fervently advocates, she could barely muster enough votes to ram through the Waxman-Markey energy bill—a 1,200-page leviathan of ludicrous complexity and scope.

Emission trading is a well-established method for managing certain kinds of environmental problems. Also called cap-and-trade, emission trading was used to eliminate lead from gasoline in the 1980s, and to control acid rain in the 1990s. The basic idea is simple: Experts assess how much of a given pollutant can be safely put into an environmental medium on an annual basis (that’s the cap), and shares (called permits or allowances) equaling that amount are given or sold to those who have historically emitted the pollutant.

Rep. Rick Boucher has proven time and again that Virginia and the nation’s consumers come first. This was again made clear with his recent work on climate change legislation now being considered by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. As a senior member of the committee, Boucher has worked tirelessly to listen to those most interested and affected by the legislation and has been a leader in finding common ground.