The Wonk Room

Rep. Louie Gohmert Bashes Economist John Reilly: ‘He May Go To M-I-T But He Is An N-U-T’

Rep. Louie “InterContinental Shelf” Gohmert (R-TX) has bashed an MIT economist for daring to say Republicans are “just wrong” about his work on clean energy policy. Dr. John Reilly, a co-author of the 2007 “Assessment of U.S. Cap-and-Trade Proposals,” has criticized the repeated misuse of his work to fabricate a “$3100 lightswitch tax” for setting global warming standards with a cap-and-trade system as “misleading,” “unrealistic,” and “silly.” In an interview with the right-wing outlet CNS News, Gohmert, a two-term representative from the Dallas area, attacked Reilly’s sanity:

Anyone who thinks you can pay $3,100 to the federal government and thinks you can get that money back completely in services — like I said — he may go to M-I-T but he is an N-U-T.

Gohmert’s uncontrolled emission is consistent with the behavior of his fellow conservatives, willfully refusing to admit they’ve been caught in a lie. Every time Reilly attempts to explain the error of their ways, starting over a month ago, the GOP and the right-wing machine redouble their efforts. The Republicans for Environmental Protection, a group of conservative conservationists, have offered one possible explanation why so many leading Republicans, from House whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) to Budget Committee ranking minority member Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), keep on lying:

Few except special interests and politicians who do their bidding would argue that limiting emissions that put human health and the environment at risk puts a burdensome “tax” on American families and businesses.

In his two terms, Gohmert has received $22,500 in contributions from the coal sector and $212,313 from Big Oil — enough to pay a mythical $3100 tax for 76 years.