Dave Chandler

UPDATE: Enegry Tax Give-away Bill

Just to make it official ... 'Bought and Paid For' Bob Beauprez voted for the tax give-away to mega-corporations legislation yesterday. Citizens in the Seventh Congressional District can expect the 'birth tax', that is the federal national debt, to grow even larger because of Beauprez's fiscal irresponsiblity in voting for this welfare bill for the most profitable corporations on the planet.

More tragic, however, is the missed opportunity to really do something to build more energy independence for this nation, stop so many dollars flowing into the Middle East, create new high tech jobs INSIDE our country, become more energy efficient, and protect the environment. The link I have provided below explains why in reality the legislation that just passed the U.S. House with the help of Bob Beauprez is a step backward.

My challenge still remains: how would O'Donnell or Paschall or Perlmutter or Lamm have voted on this bill? Beauprez is doing a good job showing us how to be a 'rubber stamp' for elite, radical Republicans (imagine what a door mat he would be as governor, please!). My question on this bill goes to just how independent and innovative and grassroots would a new Congressperson from this district be?

It is a truism of free enterprise: you get what you pay for. If I'm elected to the Congress as a represenstative from the seventh district, I will be only beholden to the voters -- since I will not take corporate Political Action Committee money or even any individual contribution over $500. None of the other candidates can say that ... but then we'll have what we've got now: another 'Bought and Paid For' fill-in-the-blank, Republican or Democratic Congressperson.

Link: A Drop in the Bucket | Dan Carol

In essence, what we need is a crash program of investment and innovation, rather than a Congressional compromise bill that is essentially a recycled recipe of corporate giveaways to traditional energy producers, peppered in parts with lukewarm, ineffectual attempts to address some of our most pressing issues. This bill represents a lost opportunity for America to lead the world in advanced energy technologies and to help grow a new economy that will create millions of jobs, increase our energy independence and create a cleaner, healthier environment. ... The opportunity that we are passing up here is immense. An economic study commissioned by The Apollo Alliance estimates that a major project to redesign our economic, energy, manufacturing and transportation landscape in the United States would create 3 million jobs and more than a trillion dollars in economic activity. It would return those benefits to regions that need them most: Energy efficiency and smart planning would create jobs in the urban core, while increased manufacturing activity would return jobs to the battered Midwest. The transition to cleaner fuels would bring new life to Detroit and the Great Plains. All this while improving our environment, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and creating cheaper, cleaner, more reliable energy.

'Bought and Paid For' Bob Beauprez

The so-called Energy Bill will be coming up soon for a final vote in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. How will 'our' representative vote? Or should I say, how will the 'representative from the giant energy corporations elected by the people of the 7th CD' vote? Take a look at these numbers:

$5,000 From Exxon Mobil: From 2003-2004 to Bob Beauprez Campaign
$3,000 From Chevron Texaco: From 2003-2004 to Bob Beauprez Campaign
$6,000 From El Paso Corp (natural gas): From 2003-2004 to Bob Beauprez Campaign
$1,000 From BP Corp: From 2003-200 to Bob Beauprez Campaign
$10,000 From Valero Energy: From 2003-2004 to Bob Beauprez Campaign

Beauprez Has Taken Over $110,000 From The Energy And Natural Resources Industry. From 2003-2004 Congressman Bob Beauprez took $110,800 from the energy and natural resources industry. [Sources: Federal Election Commission, Center for Responsive Politics]

Beauprez Has Taken Over $70,000 From The Oil And Gas Industry. From 2003-2004 Congressman Bob Beauprez took $71,550 from the oil and gas industry. [Sources: Federal Election Commission, Center for Responsive Politics]
League of Conservation Voters

It looks like we can call him 'Bought and Paid For' Beauprez in addition to Bob 'Rubber Stamp' Beauprez. The point being that the Seventh Congressional District does not now have independent, honest representation in the nation's capital. We do not have a Congressperson that puts the interests of the residents of this district first, we have an elected official that is loyal first to his political party and his campaign contributors.

That is why it is so necessary to change the way politics is done in this country. How does an energy bill that hands out literally billions of dollars in tax subsidies to the most profitable corporations on the planet, like ExxonMobil, help a driver in Lakewood or Aurora who has to pay $2.30 a gallon for gasoline? Well, you know that energy consumers in our district come second to the mad rush for campaign contributions. This is not what true representative democracy is supposed to be about -- selling out for contributions to help the mega-oil corporations is not good for average people, nor does it strengthen our nation that is running $300-billion-plus federal deficits every year; nor does it wean us from a peaking supply of global petroleum.

And the 'legalized bribery' system just keeps taking its toll on our elections process. Fifteen months before the 2006 elections, Republican O'Donnell and Democrat Perlmutter have already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for their campaigns ... You just know in your gut that something is terribly wrong with our current political system!

The Green Party supports genuine political reform that will restore grassroots democracy to our republic. Americans have an opportunity to send a message and take a stand to give the United States once again "a government of the people, by the people, for the people."

Link: Energy Lobby Contributes Big - And It Pays | Bloomberg/The Arizona Daily Star �

Oil and utility companies spent $367 million over the last two years pushing Congress to pass energy legislation. For many, the money was a good investment: Lawmakers are poised to pass a measure providing $11.6 billion in taxpayer subsidies. House and Senate negotiators approved compromise legislation Tuesday, and President Bush, who has been seeking an energy bill since the start of his first term, will have it on his desk by July 29, said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Energy Bill is Bad - We Should Wait for Better Alternatives

I agree with the Denver Post editorial today on the proposed energy bill ... wrongly named, it should be called the Petroleum Producers Protection Act. Reader know that Peak Oil is a looming problem for the United States and the world. This legislation does virtually nothing to address the coming global peak in petroleum production that will mean skyrocketing prices and declining supplies.

For instance, any 'energy' bill that does not include measures to require much better miles per gallon fuel efficiency from our automobiles is simply counterproductive; such a provision is not in this plan. It is illogical to do nothing about increasing demand in the face of flat or declining supply -- unless, of course, the real goal is to funnel massive profits to Bush/Cheney and radical Republican campaign contributors. This legislation has been drafted in large part to provide more money and power to multinational oil corporations. The bottom line is that in reality there is no way we can drill our way out of dependency on oil ... yet that is most of what this legislation tries to do.

This is a backward-looking, retrogressive proposal. Therefore, we can be sure that if Bush asks for Congress to approve this conference bill, our 7th Congressional District representative, Bob "Rubber Stamp" Beauprez, will be eager in his submission to instructions from the White House. Again I ask, how would O'Donnell or Paschall or Perlmutter or Lamm vote when this plan comes back to the House? If I were in the U.S. House of Representatives, I would vote against this bill -- I would work with other progressive, realistic members of Congress to draft a real alternative that emphasizes conservation and efficiency and encourages the development renewable energy sources.

Residents of the Seventh Congressional District need good representation to our federal government that will be in favor of protecting our land, water and air ... and who will support ideas and proposals that will try and keep our energy needs supplied when oil costs a hundred dollars a barrel of more. Only a Green Congressperson will be free from the pressures of big bucks contributors to act in the best interests of ALL the people.

Link: Energy Compromise a Step Backwards | Denver Post Editorial

The energy bill that's emerging from a House-Senate conference committee won't wean America off imported oil and could greatly harm the environment. Efforts by the Senate to boost energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources have been stripped away, while a push to exempt oil companies from basic environmental protections looks likely to become law. ... For Colorado, the risk is that the energy measure would let oil companies run roughshod over our landscape, particularly by exempting oil companies from clean water laws and by pushing oil shale and tar sand development.

No on CAFTA

I turned on the television about 7:00 this morning and during my quick click-through to see what was going on in the world, happened upon Bob Beauprez on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives announcing his intention to vote for the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

Congressman 'Rubber Stamp" is true to form ... if Bush says jump, Beauprez pleads with his master to let him jump higher. Colorado's Seventh Congressional District certainly deserves better representation than has been provided by the radical Beauprez.

I suggest the following web sites to provide excellent reasons why CAFTA is not good for average working people who live in the 7th CD ....

StopCAFTA.org
Western Organization of Resource Councils
NAFTA's Cautionary Tale: Recent history suggests CAFTA could lead to further U.S. job displacement | Economic Policy Institute

If I were in the Congress, I would vote 'NO' ... How would Rick O'Donnell, or Mark Paschall, or Ed Perlmutter, or Peggy Lamm vote?

Congressional Votes - The Hypocritical Right

From the Sunday Denver Post, July 3, 2005; page 30A.

More votes in the U.S. House of Representatives that demonstrate the Colorado delegation of radical Republicans' adherence to the agenda of the hypocritical right-wing.

You've got to love this one. Part of HR 3058 would approve a Congressional pay raise of 19% ... bringing their salary to $165,200. When was the last time you received a 19% raise? Of course, it is the hypocrisy of the "limited government" crowd that is so revealing. Always critical of the wasteful bureaucracy, reminding us that it's "our money, not the governments" ... Bob Beauprez still wants his taxpayer-funded wages -- as does Diana DeGette, Joel Hefley and Tom Tancredo. Big surprise that this spending by the federal government passed 263 to 152. Despite what they say, Republicans love that red ink if they're the ones getting some of that borrowed cash.

Next, another part of HR 3058 (big budget bill) was a proposal to save Amtrak from Bush budget cuts (always enough money for the Iraq war sink hole, always cut what real people here at home need). Now, Beauprez has made a big deal about the bacon he has brought home to the Seventh Congressional District for road improvements, like the Wadsworth and 58th Avenue in Arvada grade separation. In other words, subsidies to the automobile from the federal government are just fine and dandy. But subsidize an alternative mode of transportation? Suddenly he's all in favor of free enterprise, free markets, yada, yada, yada. We spend billions every year of taxpayer dollars to subsidize automobile and airline travel, what Amtrak receives is a pittance. But having rode Amtrak last year from Denver to Milwaukee, I can tell you that it is a shame that America has let its railroad system deteriorate ... train travel could be a terrific way for folks to travel. But, of course, hypocrite Beauprez says 'No'.

Finally, in this shortened 'day after the Fourth' commentary on Congressional votes, Beauprez shows how two-faced he is when it comes to the power of the national central government to impose its will on local communities. I am a believer in the Second Amendment interpretation that individuals have a right to own firearms. But I also maintain that communities have a right to decide most things effecting their own citizens; decentralization is a Key Value of the Green Party. So if the people of Washington, D.C., through their local elected officials, want to require that guns kept in the home be unloaded and trigger-locked, that's their business. They haven't stopped anyone from buying or owning a gun, just passed a local law about how those guns are stored. Now, how one is supposed to adequately protect oneself or family with those kinds of restrictions is beyond me ... but that is the point -- it is beyond me and my neighborhood and city here in Colorado. As we hear many times, in a democracy you have the right to be wrong. But the principle here is that why should the arrogant Bob Beauprez, banker from Lafayette, impose his ideas about running a local community on folks a couple thousand miles east of here? He always finds a way if it helps him politically ... (HR 3058, another part of the federal spending bill.)

These votes are a sample that demonstrate once again that the radical Republicans are just that -- radical. They say one thing, then vote another way ... the real trend we see in these votes is for a central government that is more and more powerful and spends more and more money that it doesn't have. But listen to the likes of Beauprez back here in Colorado on the campaign trail and you would be lead to believe that they were for 'limited government' and 'fiscal restraint'. HA!

Just remember, these guys have run up the largest federal deficits in American history, they have embroiled us in a war without end, and they love every police state power they can concoct to impose upon us here at home in the name of the 'war on terror'. The question is who will vigorously challenge these radicals in the next election? Will Democrats Perlmutter or Lamm call Bob Beauprez or his successor Congressional nominee what they really are -- radicals? Will they declare that they would have voted to reject the pay raise, support train travel, and support local control?

It looks more and more like a Green Party candidate is needed to do the job ... because the Democrats and Republicans don't have time to talk about issues. All they have time for is raising thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars for extravagant campaigns. Shouldn't these elections be about YOU? Not just the groups that have so much money to offer as legalized bribes? On this day after Independence Day, don't you think the principles of the republic should come before the sleazy campaign practices that have corrupted representative government?

Vote Green.