WASHINGTON – The president, elected by the people and sworn to protect their interests, is intentionally trying to kill American jobs and wipe out stock market wealth – all to grab power and hasten the downfall of free market capitalism.

It's a startling assertion, a plotline worthy of a Cold War novel titled The Mole, perhaps, or Sabotage in the Oval Office.

Sure, presidents have intentionally kept a tight throttle on growth to fight inflation or modulate the economy's dips and peaks, and this has cost jobs. They've spent foolishly and run up huge deficits, and that has surely put the squeeze on generations of workers.

President Barack Obama has been dogged by allegations he is a closet socialist. But Rep. Pete Sessions of Dallas, a member of the House Republican leadership, went a step further, accusing Obama last week of intentionally trying to curb employment and suppress the stock market so that he can radically alter the U.S. economic system.

It's understood that Sessions, as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, will make some enemies. Freshman Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando, one of the Democrats the GOP has targeted for 2010, turned Sessions' allegations into a fundraising plea last week, telling would-be donors his tormenter is "crazy," a "lunatic," "demented" and "paranoid."

Back in Dallas, Democrats would love some payback: Sessions unseated longtime Rep. Martin Frost in 2004. But despite the gaffe, they see little hope.

"He's a political hack" and "clueless," said Dallas County Democratic chairwoman Darlene Ewing. "He's pandering to a constituency that's frustrated."

But he's also there to stay, she predicted.

"I don't think this district can be taken," she said. "It's like if you found every hard-core Republican and put them in one place, they'd be in the 32nd District."

And now we shift topics, from "crazy" to "nuts."

The Democrats in charge of the House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled a 932-page bill last week aimed at curbing greenhouse emissions. The "cap-and-trade" system sets overall pollution levels and creates allowances for businesses to buy and sell.

The committee will start working through the details Monday, and Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wants the measure sent to the full House by next weekend.

Not so fast, says Rep. Joe Barton of Arlington, the committee's top Republican, asserting that Waxman doesn't have the votes.

An avid poker player, Barton invoked some Texas Hold 'em lingo to make that point.

"He doesn't have the nuts," he said, questioning Waxman's hand, not his manhood. "Nor do I," he added.

Republicans have reportedly prepared as many as 450 amendments to drag out the committee process, weaken the bill and embarrass Democrats.

But Barton's legislative maneuvering may not have his colleagues' full support. While he tries to kill the legislation in committee – a "quixotic mission," as one House GOP leadership aide put it – other Republicans are eager for a more public fight in the full House because they think cap-and-trade is such a flawed idea.

For Republicans in this case, it's about messaging, not trying to legislate from the minority.

Todd J. Gillman is Washington bureau chief of The Dallas Morning News.