St. Louis baker protests climate-change bill
The scrolling sign at McArthur’s Bakery in St. Louis County usually advertises something sweet, but one recent message was downright bitter. According to Fox News, the sign read:
“Russ Carnahan voted to … close us and other … small business.”
The reference is to Rep. Carnahan’s vote in favor of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, which bakery vice president David McArthur clearly doesn’t like:
McArthur told FOXNews.com that every aspect of his business relies on the forms of energy targeted by the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and that his congressman, Carnahan, was supporting “a direct tax increase on small business” by voting for it.
“We make (our product) with electricity, we bake it with gas, we refrigerate and freeze it with electricity and we distribute it with gas and oil,” said McArthur, who said he worries that high prices could cost his company up to $15,000 a year in an industry with a very tight margin for profit.
Don’t look for the political message today; McArthur took it down after being contacted by Carnahan’s office. But he says that, during a severe recession, the threat to the bakery’s existence is real. Here’s the quote that’s especially unsettling for any St. Louisan with a sweet tooth:
We have not had the ability to make money for the last three years. Another year and a 50-year icon in St. Louis is gone.



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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page.
So why did Mr. McArthur take down his sign? He has a right to voice his opinion; it was accurate and was not offensive on the basis of race, religion, age, etc. His concerns are very valid and anyone who actually read the bill that was passed by the House. (Few, if any, of those who actaully voted on it, sadly, seemed to have actually read it).