President Barack Obama is pushing a cap-and-trade program that has the ultimate goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the name of halting global warming. It accomplishes this by artificially raising prices of carbon-based fuels -- coal, natural gas, gasoline -- in order to discourage their use.

It's called cap-and-trade, but it's really a big tax program. In order to win the support of the poor and middle class who will be hardest hit by a doubling (or more) of energy costs, Obama has promised a tax credit to offset the increased costs.

But if the problem is as serious as it is described (NASA alarmist James Hansen has said that we have only four years to solve it), then there's no excuse for this:

When you're the president of the United States, only the best pizza will do - even if that means flying a chef  860 miles. 

Chris Sommers, 33, jetted into Washington from St Louis, Missouri, on Thursday with a suitcase of dough, cheese and pans to to prepare food for the Obamas and their staff.

He had apparently been handpicked after the President had tasted his pizzas on the campaign trail last autumn.

It's reminiscent of President Bill Clinton's $400 haircut on the airport tarmac.

Did President Bush ever do something this? Not that I recall.

I'm never going to criticize Obama for jetting around the country -- or the world -- it's part of the job and it's important that the president get out of the beltway even if it is only to carefully orchestrated events. But flying a pizza chef from St. Louis to Washington to cook dinner is beyond the pale. Everyone else in America is cutting back -- and the Obamas made a big show about planting a "victory" garden at the White House -- and President Obama does an ostentatious display of wealth.

If one of the Big 3 automaker executives or any of those AIG big wigs had done something similar, Obama and the Democrats would be among the first to denounce them.