Wake up, Dems are going to get killed by the Gas issue, Repubs framing it

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/27/gas.rebate/



Democrats need to wake up NOW or get KILLED by the Republicans on this issue. They want ANWR too!

Stop spending all our time on atheists, Snoop, and the Duke rape scandal. We should know better.

Edit:
It is not the 100 dollars, they are getting to FRAME IT AGAIN. They are framing it as, see Dems won't let us drill for oil, high gas prices are their fault.

Most people thought the $300 tax rebate was a joke. This is just a slap in the face to most people.

They are putting ANWR with it so that we are getting blamed for the high gas prices because we won't let them drill.

They can frame it any god damn way they want to. The only thing that will help them is a mass amnesia.

This is what I was hoping for:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/27/124256/316

But they still can't escape responsibility.

who gets the oil. Don't they sell it on the open market so anyone can out bid the USA.

the US is only set up the refine light sweet crude, which ANWAR is not!

I heard Japan was getting what they produced now, so I never could figure out how drilling in anwr was going to help.

I didn't take the $300 "rebate" check offered up by BushCo a few years ago, but I understood that it was really an advance on the next years tax return. Will this be the same thing?

http://stabenow.senate.gov/press/2006/042406GasPrices.htm

snip-

WASHINGTON— U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today announced that she will introduce comprehensive legislation to hold oil companies accountable for skyrocketing gas prices. Stabenow joined Sam Hamade, owner of the Southfield Service Center at his gas station today to call for an end to policies that allow oil companies to charge record prices while reaping record profits.

-snip

snip-

At the same time, the largest oil companies continue to post record-breaking profits. ExxonMobil recently reported an annual profit of $36 billion – the largest profit for any company in U.S. corporate history. The total combined profits for the big 5 oil companies were $111 billion last year.

This week, Stabenow will introduce the Oil Company Accountability Act. The bill would repeal $5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies and give an immediate $500 tax rebate to families to offset high energy costs. Families earning up to $119,950 would be eligible for the one-time tax rebate.


-snip


I think they are awake...

faster faster faster... set the issue, promote it, fast, before the repubs take it...

:hide: :yoiks: :nuke:

releases made by Dems at the beginning of this week. Stabenow's office has already started whacking at state offenders...gouging distributors and stations.

Maybe I am just not seeing it where I am, but it seems like the news is not covering any Dem plans and is covering the Repub one.

up the coverage of Stabenow's good work. Hopefully it will spread.

...when corporations like Enron got cut a check for $124,500, while the average American got a paltry $300 dollars!

This pathetic $100 dollar "rebate" is nothing more than to placate an electorate that's getting pret-ty loud and angry these days---but of course, RW'ers in Congress wouldn't be their usual, environmental-hating, opportunistic selves working for "Big Oil" (like always) if they didn't eek in ANWR!

agreement to drill in Alaska. First of all, $100 is shit for anyone, let alone anyone with a truck or SUV. Also the news made it clear it came with strings attached. I think its pretty transparent and lame and I think most people will also think that.

Stop playing politics and start telling the truth, that we're at the end of the road for cheap, easily available oil, and propose a long term solution that transitions our country off of petroleum and onto clean renewable alternatives like wind, solar and biodiesel. These off the shelf technologies have the capability to power all of our country's energy needs, and to do so cheaply and cleanly.

It is time to stop playing political games with this issue, and time to face up to the hard truths that we're facing. If this doesn't happen soon, we're going to see the end of this country as we know it, and it's going to be disastorous.

We know that the pro-oil 'Pugs aren't going to address this issue, time for the Dems to stand up, throw off their corporate shackles and do what's right for this country.

search your senator's voting records,and write a letter to your local paper,pointing out how legislation has been slanted to favor the oil companies and screw the little guy.you can look up any state and national representative's voting record on any number of subjects here:
http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm
here's an example

Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005



Bill Number: HR 3893
Issue: Energy Issues
Date: 10/07/2005
Sponsor:Rep Barton, Joe


Roll Call Number: 519
Bill Passed (House)
How members voted


Representative Thomas Dale 'Tom' DeLay voted YES.
Read statements Representative DeLay made in this general time period.

Official Title of Legislation:

HR 3893: To expedite the construction of new refining capacity in the United States, to provide reliable and affordable energy for the American people, and for other purposes.

Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes the President to designate Federal land for construction of new oil refineries, implements penalties to prevent gasoline suppliers from overcharging consumers, and repeals certain environmental regulations.

Highlights:

- Authorizes the President to designate sites on Federal land for construction of new oil refineries, including at least three on closed military bases

- Allows the Secretary of Energy to enter into contracts with non-Federal entities to construct or restore new refineries that use crude oil or coal to produce gasoline or other fuel

- Amends the Clean Air Act to allow the President to temporarily waive any control or prohibition of fuel or fuel additives during an “extreme or unusual” fuel emergency resulting from a natural disaster

- Requires the Federal Trade Commission to conduct an investigation of nationwide gasoline prices after Hurricane Katrina

- Instructs the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to encourage carpools by giving grants to states and to evaluate the use of the Internet to link riders with carpools, assist employers establish carpool programs, and market existing programs

- Sets penalties of up to $11,000 for each time an individual overcharges for oil, gasoline, or diesel fuel during a major disaster

- Calls for the identification and publication of six gasoline and diesel fuels for use in certain States

- Allows the Secretary of Energy to authorize any facility to use biomass debris as fuel if it meets certain standards, such as resulting from a major disaster

- Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to study the Clean Air Act paperwork requirements of different States and report on recommendations to streamline the requirements

- $10 million to establish a program to encourage minority students to study geology and enter into employment in the oil, gas, and mining industries

- $2.5 million to create an education campaign about gasoline conservation

I understand your concerns that the FRAMING of the issue
is the real point, and I agree wholeheartedly.

However, they have shot themselves in the foot
by attaching it to the ridiculous $100 rebate.

The average B*sh-voter is NOT going to be happy with a measley hundred bucks-
5 years ago, maybe...but not today.

Not when gas is headed for $4/gallon
and their winter heating bill doubled for the second or third year in a row.
Even the most math-apathetic voter knows darn well
that they are spending THOUSANDS more for energy than they did under Clinton.

They are going to see this hundred dollars for what it is:
An insult.
A "let them eat cake" slap in the face.

Honestly, a THOUSAND bucks might have regained them some support.
But a HUNDRED is just gonna piss people off even more.

I sure hope your right. It seems possible that people may react that way.