Rep. Kaptur gets $3.5 billion sweetener in climate bill

Here is a story I missed while I was focused on the Ganley announcement.  It seems Marcy Kaptur used her vote on Cap and Trade to continue to bring home the pork for Ohio:

When House Democratic leaders were rounding up votes Friday for the massive climate-change bill, they paid special attention to their colleagues from Ohio who remained stubbornly undecided.

They finally secured the vote of one Ohioan, veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, the old-fashioned way. They gave her what she wanted – a new federal power authority, similar to Washington state’s Bonneville Power Administration, stocked with up to $3.5 billion in taxpayer money available for lending to renewable energy and economic development projects in Ohio and other Midwestern states.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat, included the Kaptur project in a 310-page amendment to the legislation unveiled at 3 a.m. Friday, just hours before the bill was to be debated on the House floor. The amendment was packed with other vote-getting provisions, both large and small, that had been sought by dozens of wavering Democrats.

Put aside the rather offensive vote buying and log rolling, and you will see that Kaptur is perfectly happy with this arrangement because it represents the way she views economic development and the role of government:

Miss Kaptur trumpeted her handiwork on her congressional Web site. She said the new federal authority would bring new economic development to Ohio and the struggling Great Lakes region and would also ensure “regional equity” with other parts of the country that already have such programs.

“The federal government has been subsidizing infrastructure and economic development in other parts of the country since the New Deal. Now, it’s our turn,” she said. “With the Midwest taking the brunt of the economic crisis, my priority was to bring our region additional tools to create jobs and promote energy independence.”

There is only one small problem.  This little boondoggle is unlikely to contribute to jobs and development – outside of the government and a handful of rent seekers – but the bill it was attached to is a massive job killer and tax increase for the people Kaptur represents. Energy independence?  From a federl power authority?

But this how Kaptur’s career has gione.  She brags about all the pork she brings home and everyone seems to ignore the fact that all this port hasn’t helped Toledo or the region grow or succeed.

I am not holding my breath, but at some point the people of Toledo really ought to wake up and see this system is failing them.