1 Cap and Trade: I’m pretty much with Kevin Drum on the Waxman-Markey bill. But seeing as how Obama campaigned on a cap-and-trade bill with 100% auctions, I just don’t believe that such a thing is so politically impossible that it can’t even make it into this first draft. If RGGI can do it, so can the Feds.
2 On the other hand, the Republican talking points about such things are just depressing beyond words: see GOP full of hot air about Obama’s “light switch tax”, which is something they’re still doing.
3 And wait, there’s even more depressing Republican rhetoric: see Paul Ryan’s Crazy Budget Graph, or April Fool’s Budget Relies on Inconsistent Tax Rates. I do have some sympathy for Dani Rodrik’s skepticism when it comes to technocrats, but surely a government of technocrats — which is what I think we now have — is nearly always to be preferred to a government of idealogues.