Here are a couple pieces of legislation that need grass roots assistance right away.
The PROTECT Our Children Act
Oprah did a good story on this act (no, I don't watch Oprah...my wife mentioned it to me) this week. Senate Bill S.1738, the PROTECT Our Children Act, would do the following:
Call your Senators and tell them to support this bill.
Energy Production
What do Americans want? According to polls, they want more oil drilling, more coal mining, more nuclear power, more wind energy, more solar energy...more of everything. We have the technology to do it cleanly, without damaging the environment, and having more energy production means getting lower prices. That's what matters to Americans.
The Republicans have offered a bill to do all of the above, and it's called the America Energy Act (H.R.6566). It is in danger of being subverted by Democrats, who are proposing an alternative bill that would likely contain a poison pill (a provision designed to make the bill so undesirable that it will be voted down), and at best would allow only a miniscule amount of new energy production. The Editors at NRO have the low-down (emphasis mine):
As the article above says, the Democrats win either way with this bill. If it passes, they have more or less prevented meaningful energy production (a heavily Republican position, and not something their own lobbyist base wants at all); if it doesn't pass, they can say they supported drilling but that Bush vetoed it. See how this works? The only thing that will right this ship is if millions of Americans call their Senators and Reps and demand the all of the above plan put forward by the Republicans. The Editors conclude:
I cannot stress to you how important it is for you to call on this bill. The results of this battle will go directly to your pocketbook through prices on gas, food, and many other products you buy and use every day for years.
So, here's what you need to do. Call your Senators and Rep and tell them you want meaningful energy production increases, so you support the America Energy Act, not the Gang's bipartisan bill. Tell them you expect them to do the same. Then call Pelosi and Reid (the Democrat leaders of the House and Senate, who control the votes that are allowed) and tell them the same thing. Phone call after phone call after phone call is the only thing that ensure success.
One other thing for you to do: call McCain's campaign and tell him the same thing. There are rumors that he's planning to support the Gang's bill, and that's very, very bad news. Stephen Spruiell comments:
So, you have your tasks. Start dialing!
There's my two cents.
The PROTECT Our Children Act
Oprah did a good story on this act (no, I don't watch Oprah...my wife mentioned it to me) this week. Senate Bill S.1738, the PROTECT Our Children Act, would do the following:
- Authorize over $320 million over the next five years in desperately needed funding for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation.
- Mandate that child rescue be a top priority for law enforcement receiving federal funding.
- Allocate funds for high-tech computer software that can track down Internet predators.
Call your Senators and tell them to support this bill.
Energy Production
What do Americans want? According to polls, they want more oil drilling, more coal mining, more nuclear power, more wind energy, more solar energy...more of everything. We have the technology to do it cleanly, without damaging the environment, and having more energy production means getting lower prices. That's what matters to Americans.
The Republicans have offered a bill to do all of the above, and it's called the America Energy Act (H.R.6566). It is in danger of being subverted by Democrats, who are proposing an alternative bill that would likely contain a poison pill (a provision designed to make the bill so undesirable that it will be voted down), and at best would allow only a miniscule amount of new energy production. The Editors at NRO have the low-down (emphasis mine):
A [bipartisan] Gang of 16 in the Senate is pushing an energy bill that would spend billions of dollars, raise taxes, and do nothing to lower the price of gasoline.
The bill would open up a tiny little smidgen of space on the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas exploration — just enough that Democrats who vote for it can claim to be pro-drilling, neutralizing one of the Republicans' most energizing issues going into the November elections. But the benefits of the bill's meager drilling provisions would be negated (and then some) by $30 billion in tax hikes on U.S. oil companies, placing our own domestic producers at an additional disadvantage compared to their overseas competitors. In exchange for very little new supply, these companies would pay higher taxes related to the crucial activities of exploration and refinery-capacity expansion. To nobody's great surprise, the industry is not eager to accept this trade.
The money raised by taxing U.S. oil companies would go to pay for $84 billion in new spending on dodgy renewable energy projects — mostly tax credits for hybrid cars and research grants for biofuel production. If you want to know how much of an impact this multi-billion-dollar giveaway for special interests is likely to have on gasoline prices, consider this: Since 2005, Congress has passed two energy bills chock full of subsidies for renewable energy, and gas prices have increased nearly $1.50 per gallon.
Increasing taxes on the domestic oil industry — taxes that do not affect the state-owned oil companies that control 90 percent of the world's oil supply — would pay for less than half of the gang's new spending, and the gang has not explained how it would pay for the rest. It has turned that part over to the Democrat-controlled Senate Finance Committee.
In the worst-case scenario, Reid and Pelosi ram the gang's bill through Congress and force President Bush to veto it, giving Democrats a fresh talking point heading into November. Get ready to hear, "We supported drilling, but Bush vetoed our bipartisan energy legislation to protect Big Oil".
The gang's proposal would actually leave most offshore areas off-limits in exchange for allowing four states — Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas — the option of approving new oil leases 50 miles off their shores. The bill would open a little new acreage in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida, but Florida's eastern shores would remain off-limits, as would the oil-rich Pacific.
The bill would open up a tiny little smidgen of space on the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas exploration — just enough that Democrats who vote for it can claim to be pro-drilling, neutralizing one of the Republicans' most energizing issues going into the November elections. But the benefits of the bill's meager drilling provisions would be negated (and then some) by $30 billion in tax hikes on U.S. oil companies, placing our own domestic producers at an additional disadvantage compared to their overseas competitors. In exchange for very little new supply, these companies would pay higher taxes related to the crucial activities of exploration and refinery-capacity expansion. To nobody's great surprise, the industry is not eager to accept this trade.
The money raised by taxing U.S. oil companies would go to pay for $84 billion in new spending on dodgy renewable energy projects — mostly tax credits for hybrid cars and research grants for biofuel production. If you want to know how much of an impact this multi-billion-dollar giveaway for special interests is likely to have on gasoline prices, consider this: Since 2005, Congress has passed two energy bills chock full of subsidies for renewable energy, and gas prices have increased nearly $1.50 per gallon.
Increasing taxes on the domestic oil industry — taxes that do not affect the state-owned oil companies that control 90 percent of the world's oil supply — would pay for less than half of the gang's new spending, and the gang has not explained how it would pay for the rest. It has turned that part over to the Democrat-controlled Senate Finance Committee.
In the worst-case scenario, Reid and Pelosi ram the gang's bill through Congress and force President Bush to veto it, giving Democrats a fresh talking point heading into November. Get ready to hear, "We supported drilling, but Bush vetoed our bipartisan energy legislation to protect Big Oil".
The gang's proposal would actually leave most offshore areas off-limits in exchange for allowing four states — Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas — the option of approving new oil leases 50 miles off their shores. The bill would open a little new acreage in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida, but Florida's eastern shores would remain off-limits, as would the oil-rich Pacific.
As the article above says, the Democrats win either way with this bill. If it passes, they have more or less prevented meaningful energy production (a heavily Republican position, and not something their own lobbyist base wants at all); if it doesn't pass, they can say they supported drilling but that Bush vetoed it. See how this works? The only thing that will right this ship is if millions of Americans call their Senators and Reps and demand the all of the above plan put forward by the Republicans. The Editors conclude:
Republicans in the gang appear to have seriously underestimated their party's strength on this issue. Two-thirds of the public supports opening the Outer Continental Shelf to new drilling. The gang is undermining Republicans in a fight they are winning politically and policy-wise. The congressional ban on offshore drilling expires October 1. President Bush has made it clear that he will not sign any bill that renews the ban. All Republicans have to do is stand with the president and let the ban expire. No new taxes. No new spending. Just a new supply of domestically produced energy.
I cannot stress to you how important it is for you to call on this bill. The results of this battle will go directly to your pocketbook through prices on gas, food, and many other products you buy and use every day for years.
So, here's what you need to do. Call your Senators and Rep and tell them you want meaningful energy production increases, so you support the America Energy Act, not the Gang's bipartisan bill. Tell them you expect them to do the same. Then call Pelosi and Reid (the Democrat leaders of the House and Senate, who control the votes that are allowed) and tell them the same thing. Phone call after phone call after phone call is the only thing that ensure success.
One other thing for you to do: call McCain's campaign and tell him the same thing. There are rumors that he's planning to support the Gang's bill, and that's very, very bad news. Stephen Spruiell comments:
McCain opposes wasteful spending and supports offshore drilling. The [Gang's] bill contains a lot of the former and very little of the latter, and it raises taxes on domestic energy production. Americans for Tax Reform has announced that a vote for the gang's bill would constitute a violation of its taxpayer protection pledge, which McCain has signed.
Obama will probably end up supporting the gang's bill. Why wouldn't he? Its drilling provisions are a sham, but it lets him claim he supports drilling. McCain needs to strongly oppose this bill. By doing so, he would be holding out for a better policy (the expiration of the drilling ban) and denying Obama valuable political cover.
Call McCain and remind him of these facts. Spruiell says that if McCain supports the Gang's bill rather than the all-of-the-above plan, it'll be the equivalent of dumping a big bucket of cold water on the fire that he lit in his base with the Palin pick. I think he's right.So, you have your tasks. Start dialing!
There's my two cents.
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