AMERICAN SOLUTIONS GF ~ for Winning the Future NEWT GINGRICH GENERAL CHAIRMAN Chris Christie Christie for Governor 1719 Route 10 East, Suite 126 Parsippany, NJ 07054 Governor Jon Corzine Corzine “09 1 Gateway Center Suite 1102 Newark, NJ 07102 June 16, 2009 Dear Messrs. Corzine and Christie: Congratulations on the nomination that each of you has won to be your party's candidate for Governor of the state of New Jersey. As your campaigns now shift to this fall’s general election, we here at American Solutions for Winning the Future urge each of you to use your influence and your voice to call for the defeat of currently proposed federal legislation that would create a new and complex national energy tax system in America that will dramatically raise taxes on every single citizen of New Jersey and kill New Jersey jobs. This federal legislation is called the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill (formally known as H.R. 2454, “The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009). The aim of this bill is to set an overall limit on carbon emissions in the United States, and to provide for the creation of a system of tradeable allowances that companies will be required to have in order to legally emit carbon. If a business does not use up all of its allowances in a given year, it can trade those allowances for cash to those business that need more allowances. The underlying theory of the bill is that by imposing significant new costs on companies that use carbon (costs which will be passed on to consumers), these companies will either find ways to lower their carbon emissions. or go “bankrupt”. as then candidate Obama said would happen to certain coal companies which could not meet the limits under his cap and trade plan. The Waxman-Markey bill is currently working its way through the House of Representatives and is likely to be voted on sometime this summer. 1425 K STREET NW + SUITE 750 © WASHINGTON. DC 20005 PHONE: 202°355:9470 + Pax: 202-355-9471» AMERICANSOLUTIONS.COM PAID FOR BY AMERICAN SOLUTIONS FOR WINNING THE FUTURE NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OK CANDIDATE COMMITTEE, NOT PRINTED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSEAs leaders who aspire to lead New Jersey forward, you have a responsibility to speak out now to protect the state from proposed laws that would kill jobs in New Jersey. Your leadership responsibility is to help create New Jersey jobs, not support their destruction (either actively or through silence), and the destruction of jobs in New Jersey is exactly what the Waxman-Markey bill would cause. Consider these findings on the economic costs of implementing the Waxman-Markey cap and trade plan compiled by the Heritage Foundation, a public policy research group based in Washington, DC, which estimates that by 2035 the Waxman-Markey bill would: + Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $9.6 trillion; + Destroy 1,105,000 jobs on average each year, with peak years seeing unemployment rise by over 2,479,000 jobs; + Raise electricity rates 90 percent after adjusting for inflation; + Raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 74 percent; + Raise residential natural gas prices by 55 percent; + Raise an average family’s annual energy bill by $1,500; and + Increase inflation-adjusted federal debt by 26 percent, or $29,150 additional federal debt per person, again after adjusting for inflation.' Additionally, the Brookings Institution in Washington also estimates that to reach the goals under the Waxman-Markey bill would reduce the level of U.S. GDP by around 2.5% relative to ‘hat it otherwise would have been in 2050, and increase unemployment by 0.5% in the first decade. Ata time when the nation’s unemployment rate has now reached 9.4%, a level not experienced by our country since 1982, it boggles the mind that our national representatives would consider any legislation that would lead to greater job loss, higher taxes, and less take home pay for every American, Ata time when the price of a gallon of gas is rising with every month, it defies common sense why any Congressional representative could consider passing legislation that would increase the price of a gallon of gas even more ' William W. Beach, David Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen Campbell, Ph.D. and Ben Lieberman, “Son of Waxman-Merkey: More Politics Makes for a More Costly Bill.” Heritage Foundation WebMemo #2450, May 18, 2009 (hup/wwww heritage ory/ Research /Energyai vwm2450.cfind finS, June 16, 2009), “The Economic Impact of Climate Change Reduction Strategies”, Brookings lastiutions, (hupi/eww brookings.edulevents/2009/0608 climate change economy.aspx, June 10, 2009). 2You Can Make a Difference Each of you has the opportunity now to speak plainly about the threat that this legislation poses to New Jersey's economy and New Jersey's ability fo create new jobs. ‘The national media is paying attention to your contest in New Jersey and the nation will pay attention to what the citizens of New Jersey have to say about their taxes being raised by anew, comprehensive system of taxation. In 1913, the L6th amendment to our Constitution was ratified, which allowed Congress to create an income tax system. Today, the U.S. Congress, apparently not content with just an income tax system to raise government revenue, are in the middle of designing through the Waxman-Markey bill a massive new national system of taxation, this time to tax energy. Some Members of Congress want the Waxman-Markey cap and trade energy tax system to pass because it will be a huge source of ongoing revenue to fund new programs, new bailouts, and new pork, Also, the Waxman-Markey bill is already being revised so that it will allow the government to provide cash giveaways to those businesses that come out in support of its passage, We are appalled, thought not surprised, that some businesses are less interested in a family trying to balance the family budget and making sure that their taxes don’t go up, than they are in ensuring that the federal government lines the pockets of their businesses with cash proceeds from the new cap and trade energy tax. Each of you has the opportunity — and the responsibility ~ to voice your opposition to such organized corruption. Cap and Trade is Not About Protecting the Environment ‘The Waxman-Markey bill is not about protecting the environment from rising temperatures: it's about raising enormous sums of new government revenue to be spent by politicians on new programs that have nothing to do with the environment. Even assuming the bill could be implemented effectively — a big if - it would lead to a reduction in temperature of only hundredeths of a degree in 2030 (0.05° C or two years of avoided warming). While this is a meaningless temperature reduction, the money generated by the new cap and trade energy tax system is all too real, both for the federal government and for the businesses that will be given free money to go along with the new national energy tax. > See Chip Knappenberger, "Climate Impacts of Waxman-Markey (the IPCC-based arithmetic of no gain), MasterResource, May 6, 2009, at hup://masterresource.org/?p=2355 (June 10, 2009), aSave New Jersey Jobs, Stop the Energy Tax American Solutions is prepared to use every resource at its disposal to ensure that every voter in New Jersey is aware of your position either for or against imposing the costly new national system of taxation envisioned by the Waxman-Markey bill, We have 1.5 milion members nationally, including nearly 20,000 in New Jersey. While you are a candidate for a state office, you have every responsibility to be heard on this, federal issue of new energy taxes, which would destroy New Jersey jobs and weaken the New Jersey economy. You can communicate your position to members of New Jersey's Congressional delegation as well as influence public opinion in the state, which in turn can help defeat new energy taxes. ‘Thank you for careful consideration of this important issue, Best Regards, Dan Varney - Dan Varroney Senior Vice President and COO American Solutions for Winning the Future (Newt Gingrich, General Chairman)