My favorite right-wing fringe group, Americans for Limited Government, is a shining example of the political divisiveness that has poisoned the atmosphere of federal Washington.

ALG ripped the five Republican Senators brave enough to bolt from the party line and reject a measure to kill the Environmental Protection Agency rule requiring a cut in toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants.

The five Senators are New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte, Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, Massachusetts’ Scott Brown and Maine’s Sue Collins and Olympia Snowe.

ALG issued a June 20 release following the vote to condemn the five for siding with “radical enviros” and supporting “crippling” regulation against the coal industry. They will be “responsible for the higher energy cost that will result from implementation of the EPA’s irresponsible war on coal.”

ALG huffed: “These five Senators have undercut the message of job creation and growth being advance by the Republican Party and its nominees this year…. These five Senators deserve the blame.”

The EPA estimates the cost of new scrubbers for utilities will be $9.6B. It also projects health benefits of $90B in the form of prevention of 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 less child asthma cases per year. That appears to be a cost-effective trade-off.

Congratulations to the fearless five, which could soon be reduced to the terrific three with the retirement of Snowe and possible defeat of Brown by Elizabeth Warren.

Five Democrats supported the measure. They are Virginia's Jim Webb and Mark Warner, Louisiana's Mary Landrieu, Nebraska's Ben Nelson, and West Virginia Joe Manchin. They haven't been depicted as Democratic traitors.

Today’s screed from ALG is called “Obama’s recession is undeniable." It's another fun read.


(Image: Colonial Williamsburg)