Douglas Alexander: “I have proposed a cap-and-trade system on powerplants to deal with climate change. All I am saying is it would be better…”

“I have proposed a cap-and-trade system on powerplants to deal with climate change. All I am saying is it would be better to keep it simple, to take the money collected and send it straight back home rather than bringing it up here and putting it in a slush fund. If "slush fund" is offensive to the Senator from California, I am sorry, but that is what large funds tend to be here. It is mandatory spending that is earmarked for the next 42 years. So removing that slush fund would be an improvement on their bill. Take that out. Send the money back to the people. Return it to the individuals who paid it. That is all I am suggesting. No one ought to be offended by that. If we need to invest dollars in solar research, for example, I sponsored the amendment for the solar energy tax credit that is in the law now. Let's do that separately and with a clear appropriation, rather than a 42-year mandatory spending program that is drawn from $800 billion.”