Big Government Bailout

This is not a time to overreact and pass the President’s legislation that would give an enormous amount of power to the Treasury Secretary. Under this proposed legislation:

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

This bill is also a reminder of many other bills that were urged to pass quickly for the good of the country:

1. The Patriot Act - Congress was urged to vote quickly after 9/11 in order to ensure our country’s safety.

2. The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq - This was voted on in October of 2002 and pinned the congress to take one side or the other days before the November election.

3. The Republicans have recently tried to give Oil Companies the ability to drill anywhere and provide large subsidies for them to do it while urging congress to pass this quickly.

4. American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act - $100 to $300 billion dollar Mortgage Rescue Bill that would pull back mortgages from the brink of forclosure along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Now, less than 60 days after the President signed the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act into law we are supposed to believe this new bill which would cost the taxpayers $700 billion to $1 trillion dollars will stabilize the market.

I’M TIRED OF THIS!!!

Our Economy is over inflated and has been trying to correct itself for awhile now but we keep putting band-aids on the system that only temporarily fixes the problem. We received a temporary fix with our $150 billion economic stimulus package earlier this year. Then we passed another $100+ billion Mortgage Rescue Bill that only lasted 50 days. Now the President and Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, would like another trillion because Main Street could suffer if we do not do anything.

I am having a hard time trusting our federal governmental officials because their record is not stellar. We continually elect many politicians that only do things for today and not worry about the consequences of tomorrow because that is not what will get them re-elected.

If I had to vote on this (unaltered) bill today I would vote NO.

I believe in a Free Market and I believe in our economy and we can’t keep accumulating more debt! When our debt rises, our dollar goes down, our interest rates go up, our productivity in our economy goes down and our unemployment rises.

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As your next Congressman I will not only represent you but I will be representing your children as well.

Who is My Opponent Representing?

In the last few months our Republican incumbent has been crying about not having an opportunity to vote for oil drilling and help the average American by lowering gas prices. Well, last night he had any opportunity to do just that, help the average American by lowering gas prices, and instead decided, again, to side with his Grand Oil Party and voted against HR 6899 (FYI, our Republican incumbent has taken thousands of dollars from Oil Company Lobbyists and owns millions of dollars of Exxon Mobil stock).

Here is what our neighboring congressman Chet Edwards had to say about the bill:

The bill will release 10% of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), or 70 million barrels of oil. In 1991 when former President Bush released just 17 million barrels of oil from the SPR, oil prices dropped by 33.4% in just one day. In 2000, when President Clinton release oil from the SPR, oil prices dropped by 18.7%.

The fact is that releasing oil from the SPR is a proven way to drive down oil prices quickly. By dramatically increasing the supply of oil on the market, we will drive down the price of oil… Now I can see why oil speculators don’t like the idea of lower prices. I can see why Exxon Mobil doesn’t like the idea of oil lower prices. I can’t see quite see why my Republican House colleagues have voted against releasing oil from this SPR earlier this year and none of their bills include this idea. It makes one wonder just whose side are they on now?

Here is my opponent’s response:

This bill is not the bill the American people have been waiting for. In fact, this bill doesn't do a single thing to help consumers, nor does it answer the cries of frustrated Americans pummeled by high gas and food prices.

Not a Single Thing?

The bill could reduce the price per barrel of oil 20% to around $80, which should translate to just over $2 a gallon! I will side with the American families and businesses that are tired of paying these high prices and demand a lower cost TODAY.

Of course, our efforts to lower energy costs have to involve more than just one single solution but our Congressman is only concerned with a solution that helps the oil companies and his wallet.

District 31 deserves better, we deserve lower gas prices, and we deserve to have our voices heard. I want to represent you. As your Congressman I will represent you!