Phony Baloney Bean

Democrat Melissa Bean supports the phony drilling bill at a time when Chicago has among the highest gas prices in the country. Steve Greenberg:

LAKE ZURICH 9/17/08 – Melissa Bean and the Democrats in the House passed a sham energy bill last night (HR 6899, see roll call) in order to give themselves cover in the upcoming election. Some of the gruesome details of the bill:

• It permanently bans offshore drilling within 50 miles of US coasts, which is where 90% of known oil reserves exist.
• It requires states to opt-in to offshore drilling while denying revenue sharing, which completely removes states’ incentive to allow drilling.
• It raises taxes on American-made gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas.
• It mandates that utilities produce 15% of their electricity from renewable sources, an added cost that will be passed on to consumers.
• It ignores important energy sources such as ANWR, nuclear, & refinery capacity.

Steve Greenberg, Republican nominee for the 8^th District, is calling out this preposterous charade. “Melissa Bean and her Washington friends once again proved how out of touch they are. They passed a bill that would raise energy prices, scoffing at the struggles of hard-working Americans. In today’s economy we desperately need to lower gas prices and create jobs. This ‘energy bill in name only’ does exactly the opposite.”

Bean and the Democrats passed their partisan bill rather than consider the bipartisan “Abercrombie/Peterson” bill (HR 6709), which has 135 cosponsors from both parties. Leading Democrats admit that this bill stands no chance to become law and is simply for political cover.¹

Greenberg concluded, “Families are nervously looking to the coming winter season and anticipating record-high home heating costs. Meanwhile our lack of refining capacity has kept gas prices high, even as oil prices drop. The American people need action now.”

Steve Greenberg is the Republican Nominee for Congress in the 8^th Congressional District of Illinois. A successful businessman from Long Grove, IL, Steve will reform Washington by giving the power back to the people, allowing them to make decisions for their own family. He will cut taxes, eliminate government waste, fight for lower gas prices and work to ensure the safety of our families.

^1. http://www.gop.gov/web/guest/energy