Drill Here, Drill Now -- But What Are The Oil Companies Planning?
Nationally, Drill Here, Drill Now seems to be the only issue where Republicans are gaining any traction with voters during 2008. For those who don't know, Drill Here, Drill Now started on the website www.americansolutions.com. A couple of mouse clicks on the American Solutions website will take you to a screen with friendly welcome from none other than former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
White House Announces Bush Administration to Leave a Record Budget Deficit of $482 Billion.
Since January when we began our campaign for the 5th District seat in the US Congress, I've consistently stressed that my biggest concern is the fiscal mess that has happened in Washington. This week, White House officials admitted the Bush administration would leave office in January 2009 with a record budget deficit sitting on the books of $482 BILLION. This record $482 billion deficit is coupled with a record debt of $9.5 trillion.
On January 20th, 2001, when George W. Bush was sworn in to his first term in office and the Republican Party had control of both houses of Congress, the United States government had a record budget surplus, our economy was in a period of record expansion and the national debt was being paid down. In fact, if the Bush adminstration would have continued the fiscally responsible polices from the 90's by continuing to grow the surplus and pay down the debt, the federal debt could have been retired by 2013.
The highlight of the past week was the opening of the Centre County Democratic Campaign Headquarters in State College. Over 200 people were on hand to celebrate the opening that included a round of rousing speeches from candidates and campaign representatives including Greg Stewart and Jay Paterno for the Obama campaign, Auditor General Jack Wagner, State Representative Scott Conklin and candidate for state representative Joanne Tosti-Vasey. I want to thank and congratulate Centre County Democratic Chair Diane Gregg, Greg Stewart, Ben Flatgard and everyone else involved in getting the headquarters up and running. Having a facility like this in downtown State College is going to be a tremendous help to all the candidates and the people who are working on the campaigns.
Reiterating My OPPOSITION to Tolling I-80 as PA Turnpike Commission Reveals Plans to Spend I-80 Toll Money:
This week the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission released details of their plans to repair Interstate 80 using the funds generated from tolls paid by users of the highway. It was stated by the Turnpike Commission and their consultants that "An assessment of the interstate showed that more than half its length has not been repaved since it was built some 40 years ago". In press accounts, Barry J. Schoch, identified as Project Manager, also detailed plans to build a "cashless open road tolling system" that will utilize the EZ Pass system to collect a portion of the tolls. Mr. Schoch also described how vehicles not equipped with EZ Pass will have their tolls collected saying "a driver without E-ZPass will have his or her license plate photographed, generating a mailed-out bill for the vehicle owner". He also stated that this non EZ Pass system "is not currently used on any U.S. highway."
DEP Rejects Permit Application for PA Waste / Boggs Township Landfill.
I'm pleased to report the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has rejected the permit application filed by PA Waste LLC to construct a 5,000 ton per day municipal waste landfill in Boggs Township, Clearfield County. As county commissioner, I've been working over the past 4 years, first with Rex Read and Mike Lytle, and now with John Sobel and Joan Robinson McMillen, to oppose the construction of this landfill in Clearfield County.
"Use It or Lose It" legislation fails to reach two-thirds majority.
On June 26th in response to ongoing calls to allow oil drilling off the coast of the United States and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Democratic members of Congress offered "Use It or Lose It" legislation to mandate that oil companies either drill on federal land they have leased or relinquish the right to do so. Currently, oil companies have dormant leases to over 68 million acres in the western United States and Alaska that are available for immediate drilling and exploration that, according to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md) "contains over 100 billion barrels of oil".
While the vote was 223 for and 195 against, it failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed for passage under shortcut parliamentary rules. For the record, all Democratic members of the Pennsylvania delegation voted for "Use It or Lose It" while all Pennsylvania Republicans voted against with the exception of Rep. John Peterson who did not vote.
As We Celebrate Our Independence, It Is Time for Energy Independence.
On Friday July 4th we will celebrate Independence Day marking 232 years since our founding fathers declared that the United States of America would be an independent nation. Back in 1776, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and others showed courage, leadership and vision by drafting the Declaration of Independence creating a democratic government based on freedom and rights for the common people.
Now, 232 years later, we need to see the same courage, leadership and vision from our elected leaders to declare independence again. In 2008, the independence we need to declare is not from tyrannical leaders and an oppressive government but energy independence from foreign sources that have too much control over a product that is so vital to our nation.
This past week had important events scheduled every day ending with a very busy weekend. Here is a brief rundown of the highlights of the week:
The first major joint debate between the 2 candidates in the 5th Congressional District was held on Tuesday at the CBICC luncheon. The event was broadcast later that evening on PCN. The feedback I've received is that the debate clearly showed the contrast where I stand on the important issues, both regional and national, and where my opponent stands. The important topics addressed included healthcare, the Iraq war and the growing crisis of increasing gas and energy costs.
Today being Father's Day, I'm getting extra special treatment from Amanda. I was treated to breakfast this morning and afterwards, Kelly and Amanda headed to the community pool in Clearfield so I could relax for a couple of hours. For all the fathers, soak up the special treatment today because tomorrow it's back to solving problems.
A Choice - More of the Same or Something Different
On November 4th, voters will have a choice to make, not only in the race for President between Senator John McCain (More of the Same) and Senator Barack Obama (Something Different), but also in each of the contested races for seats in the US Congress.
Voters have to look no further than two recent congressional roll call votes to see a contrast between the Democratic and Republican parties. On May 21st, with solid Democratic support, HR 6049 passed on a 263 for / 160 against vote. HR 6049 provides energy, business and personal tax breaks totaling $55.5 billion to spur the production of non-fossil fuels, promote energy conservation, stimulate business activity and help homeowners and the working poor. In order to offset the costs of HR 6049, the bill tightens accounting rules on multinational corporations and eliminates certain offshore tax shelters and loopholes utilized by some US hedge fund managers. Most important, HR 6049 does not add any additional burden to the national debt.
The upcoming week is going to be a busy week of listening and learning. I have 3 important meetings to attend that will give me the chance to discuss important issues in the north central region.
On Monday June 2nd, I am scheduled to meet with Kirk Johnson to discuss issues surrounding the Allegheny National Forest. Mr. Johnson is the founder of Friends of Allegheny Wilderness and he contacted me several weeks back to request a meeting to discuss the future of the Allegheny National Forest. I have been a supporter of the PA Wilds tourism promotion initiative and I recognize that the Allegheny National Forest is large attraction for tourism in the PA Wilds region. I look forward to speaking with Mr. Johnson and learning more details about the ANF.
CNN talking head reporting low turn out, and speculating that many voters there feel disenfranchised and don't think voting in the primary really makes up for being disenfranchised in the general.
Electoral-Vote has a good run down on the island. He's predicting 31C, 24O for the 55 pledged delegates at stake today. He also figured there would be large turn out, so the CNN report might call his predictions into question.
What do you think?
Update, 15:01 EST - CNN calls it for Clinton "by a wide margin." Exit polling seems to indicate support of Bill Clinton and support of statehood were big drivers in support of Hillary.
While Memorial Day weekend is recognized as the unofficial start of the summer season with the first family picnics and backyard barbeques, we must take time to remember the true meaning of the Memorial Day holiday. First and foremost, Memorial Day is to remember and honor those who accepted the call into military service to protect our country. I always take a few moments while visiting local cemeteries on Memorial Day weekend to notice the flags marking the graves of deceased veterans.
May has been a busy month and it is more than half over. I have a few important things to announce this week.
1. CHANGES IN THE CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION -- We are going to make several important changes to the campaign organization this week. These moves will bring in some new people with important knowledge, experience and expertise to the campaign and will change the roles of some people already involved with the campaign.
A little more than two weeks before the Democratic primary in Iowa's third Congressional district, Ed Fallon has challenged Congressman Leonard Boswell to shift his support as a superdelegate from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama.
It's a shrewd move for several reasons that I will describe after the jump.
"The reason I am here tonight," Edwards declared, "is the voters have made their choice and so have I."
snip
"When this nomination battle is over, and it will be over soon, brothers and sisters," Edwards said, "we must come together as Democrats and in the fall stand up for what matters in America and make America what it needs to be."
John Edwards, throughout this primary season, has first and foremost been a populist. Sometimes that means standing in front of folks, meeting their gaze with a clear-eyed vision of what needs to be done to help people in this country and abroad. Sometimes it means talking and leading.
And sometimes it means listening.
John Edwards has done a lot of listening these past few months, and that led him to where he was tonight, under the glare of white lights in front of news cameras, the subject of countless pundits making countless predictions and counter-predictions.
Unity is the Key in 2008: As I've been meeting with people since the primary election, I can tell that Democratic voters in the 5th district are unifying behind our campaign and identifying with our message. Before the primary election, I felt certain if the Democratic candidates made our campaigns about the important issues and trusted the voters to make their choice on election day, it would be easy for Democrats to unite behind the winner for the general election campaign.
Time for another look at the results maps for Guam, Indiana, and North Carolina:
Click to enlarge.
Overall, the results in all three contests were pretty solidly linked to demographics. Poblano has been busy running the regressions and making predictions, but for those of you who don't get much out of t-values, I've included some maps for several demographics below. And, the usual nationwide views. Finally, some evidence that Clinton's support in Appalachia isn't necessarily about race.
As we move the campaign from Democratic primary to general election mode, I am going to make some changes to the weekly progress report. Over the last few months I've used this weekly report give updates on the events we've participated in over the past week. I'll continue to keep you informed on where we're at and what we're doing but I'm going to provide comment on issues of interest to the citizens of the 5th district. We'll also keep you updated on what is going on inside the campaign.
New Mexico congressional candidate Bill McCamley (who's running for Steve Pearce's seat), just came up with a very creative idea for taking the rug out from under self-financing candidates, in this case his oil executive primary opponent Harry Teague (who has hardly been a loyal Democrat, donating $1000 to Steve Pearce himself in 2004). Other grassroots challengers should repeat it.
From the AP:
A Democratic candidate for New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District has written a $47.50 check to has campaign.
Bill McCamley of Las Cruces staged today's event to contrast his opponent's campaign loans worth $475,000.
