The Original Clean Energy Bill Voting Record 1/2007

Following is from WashingtonPost Votes DataBase:

"Vote 40: H R 6: This bill would repeal tax cuts to oil companies and mandate that they pay a fee to remove oil from the Gulf of Mexico. It would also fund renewable energy programs. The act would repeal a tax break that oil and gas firms received in 2004. That break effectively lowered their corporate tax rates. It would also bar oil companies from bidding on new federal leases unless they pay a fee or renegotiate improperly drafted leases from the late ‘90s. Those leases did not require royalty payments on Gulf of Mexico oil production. Oil firms would pay a “conservation fee” for oil taken from the gulf.

Additionally, the bill would set aside an estimated $13 billion to $15 billion in revenues over a five-year period for tax breaks relating to renewable energy sources, according to The Washington Post.

The bill was designed to reduce the United States’ dependency on foreign oil by investing in alternative energy sources. However, critics say it actually would decrease domestic oil production so the country would rely more heavily on imported oil.

The House passed the bill on Jan. 18, 2007, with a vote of 264-163. All House Democrats except one favored the bill. They were joined by 36 Republicans. The Senate must debate the bill.

The Washington Post reported that the Bush Administration opposed repealing the tax break for oil companies when other manufacturing industries benefited from the 2004 reductions. It also frowned on forcing companies to renegotiate their Gulf of Mexico leases"


Here's WashingtonPost breakup of votes by party:

Party	Yes						No						Not Voting
Democratic	228						4						1
Republican	36						159						7
Total	264						163						8

Votes are mostly by party lines. Here's the list of the congressmen who voted "No" on this bill.

Democrats:

John Barrow, Dan Boren, Nicholas Lampson, Jim Marshall

Republicans:

Todd Akin, Rodney Alexander, Michele Bachmann, Spencer Bachus, Richard Baker, J. Gresham Barrett, Joe Barton, Judith Biggert, Brian Bilbray, Gus Bilirakis, Rob Bishop, Marsha Blackburn, Roy Blunt, John Boehner, Jo Bonner, Mary Bono, John Boozman, Charles Boustany, Kevin Brady, Henry Brown, Michael Burgess, Dave Camp, John Campbell, Chris Cannon, Eric Cantor, John Carter, Steve Chabot, Howard Coble, Tom Cole, Michael Conaway, Ander Crenshaw, Barbara Cubin, John Culberson, Jo Ann Davis, Geoff Davis, David Davis, Tom Davis, Nathan Deal, Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, John Doolittle, Thelma Drake, David Dreier, John 'Jimmy' Duncan, Philip English, Mary Fallin, Tom Feeney, Jeff Flake, Randy Forbes, Vito Fossella, Virginia Foxx, Trent Franks, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Elton Gallegly, Scott Garrett, Paul Gillmor, Phil Gingrey, Louie Gohmert, Virgil Goode, Bob Goodlatte, Kay Granger, Sam Graves, Ralph Hall, J. Dennis Hastert, Doc Hastings, Dean Heller, Jeb Hensarling, Wally Herger, David Hobson, Peter Hoekstra, Kenny Hulshof, Duncan Hunter, Darrell Issa, Bobby Jindal, Jim Jordan, Ric Keller, Peter King, Steve King, Jack Kingston, John Kline, Steven LaTourette, Doug Lamborn, Tom Latham, Ron Lewis, Jerry Lewis, John Linder, Daniel Lungren, Connie Mack, Donald Manzullo, Kenny Marchant, Kevin McCarthy, Michael McCaul, Thad McCotter, Jim McCrery, Buck McKeon, John Mica, Gary Miller, Jeff Miller, Jerry Moran, Tim Murphy, Marilyn Musgrave, Sue Myrick, Randy Neugebauer, Devin Nunes, Ron Paul, Stevan Pearce, Mike Pence, John Peterson, Chip Pickering, Joe Pitts, Ted Poe, Jon Porter, Tom Price, Deborah Pryce, Adam Putnam, George Radanovich, Ralph Regula, Dennis Rehberg, Rick Renzi, Thomas Reynolds, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Mike Rogers, Hal Rogers, Dana Rohrabacher, Peter Roskam, Edward Royce, Paul Ryan, Bill Sali, Jean Schmidt, Jim Sensenbrenner, Pete Sessions, John Shadegg, John Shimkus, Bill Shuster, Michael Simpson, Lamar Smith, Adrian Smith, Mark Souder, Cliff Stearns, John Sullivan, Tom Tancredo, Lee Terry, Mac Thornberry, Todd Tiahrt, Pat Tiberi, Michael Turner, Fred Upton, Timothy Walberg, Greg Walden, Zachary Wamp, Dave Weldon, Jerry Weller, Lynn Westmoreland, Ed Whitfield, Roger Wicker, Joe Wilson, Heather Wilson, Don Young,Bill Young

Obama earns my respect

While hillary jumps on McCain bandwagon, Obama has earned my respect by coming out against the gas tax cut. Hillary claims that gas tax cut can be financed with oil company's windfall tax. That would do essentially the same thing as a gas tax hike (as my proposal, with possibly a tax rebate to consumers) except 2 key points:

1. Americans essentially get a gas tax rebate under her proposal vs Americans get a gas tax hike but a general tax rebate (or specific energy conservation tax rebate) under my proposal. Demand for gas will be stimulated under her proposal vs suppressed under mine.
2. Refiners are free to hike prices any how to make up for the windfall tax. While OPEC is not affected and can hike prices more because of increased demand for gas.

Now if Obama comes out to actually want to hike gas tax or start OPIC organization, he will get my vote too.

Tax My Gas, Please!

I'd support either of the 2 democratic candidate, I'd even support a republican, for almost any one is a big improvement over our current Liar-In-Chief. That is, until McCain, the candidate who I thought is the candidate closest to my free-market ideals, starts spouting "Gas-tax Holiday" proposal.

Let me try to get his logic correctly. We Americans are addicted to oil (as the Liar-In-Chief pointed out, not lying for once), so Senator McCain will kindly give us a Gas-tax-free summer so that we can become more addicted, until of course the OPEC or the refiners decide to take that 18cents government put up for grabs and put it into their own pockets instead. After all, it's clear that the public could afford that same 18 cents before and the demand for gasoline is inelastic in the short term.

But why stop with oil? Why don't we give smokers a cigarette-tax holiday or drunks a liquor-tax holiday? Heck, how about Senator McCain give drug addicts a legal-drug holiday at the same time? Aren't these Senator McCain's constituency too?

Ok, I got it. Gasoline is essential to our daily commute, to the American economy. It's the sworn duty of every politician especially every self-respecting candidates to attempt silly antics in the name of making this American addiction more affordable to his constituent addicts. One day McCain proposes Gas Tax Holiday, the next day more democratic congressmen try to talk America's dearest allies into cutting oil price by threatening they will block American Arms export deals. I'm sure the middle-eastern drug-cartel king, Oops, Saudis are losing sleep about it.

If Americans really want gas prices to come down, there's one way to make it happen for sure.
That one way is not complicated, it will not add to national debt (not that the congress really cares about it, but the taxpayers will care, one day). But it requires sacrifice across board, painful adjustments. Americans were ready to sacrifice after 9/11, but their LIC told them to go shop (bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger energy bills), and then go to Iraq. Now Americans do not want to sacrifice any more, they still have to pay.

What is that one way? Well, instead of lowering gas-tax, raising it; double it, triple it, better ten-times it, make it $1.80 instead of $.18; put a 30% sales tax on gas, the revenue from gas goes to train, public transportation, energy conservation investment, alternative energy investment, R&D on hybrids, electric and hydrogen cars, even given back to consumers ( or manufacturers) as energy conservation (R&D) tax credits. Better yet, the world's biggest oil importing Nations, USA, EU, China, India, Japan join in this effort, forming the new cartel OPIC (Organization of Petroleum Importer Countries). Gas prices will be higher immediately, but within 1 year, gas prices will come down and come down permanently.

You say, 1 year is surely not long enough to see results from our investments. You are right, but 1 year is long enough to change habits of a nation, and send a message to our OPEC friends (as our LIC never tires of saying). This message reads like this: OPEC is no longer the only cartel in town. It can cut production manipulate prices all it wants, but the golden goose will just die faster (accelerated with the help of us the OPIC), for once oil demand fall, it will fall permanently. And when the demand falls, the price follows.

Will this work? if any of the candidates has the guts to put this to test, he/she has my vote.