Although U.S. Reps. Gene Green, Sheila Jackson Lee, Charlie Gonzales, Al Green, Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Cuellar, all Democrats from Texas, stressed that they "support President Obama's goals to end our addiction to foreign oil, invest in clean, renewable energy and transition to a low-carbon economy," the five congressman warned that the President's proposals could curb domestic energy production.
The group, who were joined by six other House Democratic colleagues, sent a letter yesterday to U.S. Rep. John Spratt, chairman of the House Budget Committee. The committee is expected to begin considering President Obama's budget today.
Obama’s budget would bar deductions for intangible drilling costs, block oil and natural gas companies from claiming domestic manufacturing deductions and repeal the percentage depletion for wells. It also would impose new use-it-or-lose-it style fees on inactive drilling leases on public lands.
Administration officials have argued that the incentives encourage reliance on polluting fossil fuels while draining federal coffers.
... they told Spratt [that] the U.S. needs an all-inclusive energy policy that recognizes the role of natural gas and oil. And they are concerned that some of the proposed tax increases could hurt “domestic energy production and job growth,” while disproportionately affecting small and independent producers.
Do you think these six congressman are right or should they have stood with President Obama on his energy proposals?
This morning when I opened the Houston Chronicle, one of the front page articles immediately grabbed my attention.
Texans Rip Budget Yet Add to Cost
The online edition reads:
Texas lawmakers rip budget, but seek millions
The Houston Chronicle does not single out Republicans, of course, because Texas Democrats added to the budget's costs as well. However, the Democrats are not bellowing and bellyaching about the stimulus budget while the Republicans continue to 24/7.
What hypocritical jackasses. Do Republican lawmakers actually believe they can continue to fool us with their double talk and embarrass us by their endless clown shows?
The following U.S. House members endorsed Rep. Noriega in the U.S. Senate race: Reps. Al Green, Ruben Hinojosa, Silvestre Reyes, Chet Edwards, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Charlie Gonzalez, Nick Lampson, Ciro Rodriguez, Lloyd Doggett, Solomon P. Ortiz, Gene Green, and Eddie Bernice Johnson.
"Rick Noriega is the candidate in this race whose entire life represents his commitment to profound service to our nation ... military service and public service," said the members of the Texas Delegation. "From the halls of the University of Houston under an ROTC scholarship, to the halls of Harvard, to the Texas National Guard, to the halls of the State Capitol, to the mountains of Afghanistan after 9-11, and to the Texas border with Operation Jumpstart - we know that Rick Noriega is the candidate to best serve Texans in the United States Senate."
"On the defining issues of the day - national security, border security, health insurance for our children, and fiscal responsibility - Rick is uniquely positioned, by virtue of his life experience, to best serve Texas interests in the U.S. Senate," the members agreed. "U.S. military policy will long command the attention of future Congresses. Rick's understanding of on-the-ground logistics - as well as abilities and limitations - of our military will be a fresh and important voice in the Senate on military issues."
Charles Kuffner adds some insight as to why this is really pretty awesome and a success for Team Noriega.
Excellent. It may not seem like a big deal for a bunch of Democratic members of Congress to endorse a Democrat running for Senate, but 1) it's never a trivial thing to get a bunch of Democrats to agree on anything; 2) the more unified Noriega's support is here, the more likely he'll get support from the national folks; and 3) this is still a contested primary, however loosely that's being defined.
You may be wondering about that thirteenth member of Congress. That would be Rep. Henry Cuellar, and as usual, he's doing his own thing.
Various members of Congress also taped video statements of support which the campaign will be distributing over the coming days.
With every passing day, more information comes to light casting more and more doubt on the validity of the facts and conclusions presented by General Petraeus in his testimony before Congress.
With every passing day, more American soldiers and Iraqi civilians lose their lives in this unwinnable civil war. It is unconscionable and outrageous that instead of doing the people's work and ending this war, Congress chooses meaningless and distracting gestures.
With every passing day, America's frustration with politicians in Washington drops the approval ratings for this Congress to new lows. Congress is fiddling with an ad while Iraq burns.
We will continue our ad campaign to accuse the Republicans who are blocking an end to the war of a 'Betrayal of Trust.'
--MoveOn.org
MoveOn.org was started to get Congress and the press to do the people's business and stop focusing on the partisan bickering surrounding the Clinton impeachment. Ironically, less than a decade later, MoveOn.org is asking the Congress to move on and focus on ending the war in Iraq and do the people's business.
Sadly, the House and Senate took time out of their schedules to, "To express that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the [Congress] and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces."
I am not surprised that this vote came up. I am hardly surprised it passed the House and Senate. Most of the time, votes like this happen to help conservative Democrats get re-elected and appease moderate Republicans, but the list of people voting against free speech and the netroots is tragic.
It is hard to fault Democrats like Edwards and Lampson who have tough re-elections every year, but Eddie Bernice Johnson, Loyd Doggett, and Ciro Rodriguez???
Kos has the full list of our friends, and our real Texas allies seem to be Rep. Al Green and Shelia Jackson-Lee and Ruben Hinojosa at least abstained.
To the rest of the Texas delegation, thanks for focusing on issues that matter and showing how important our first amendment rights are. Now that you have the vote out of your system, can you bring our troops home? How about you start balancing the budget a little? At the very least, can we get a better tax system? I mean, bravo for expanding the State Children Health Insurance Program, but can you do more of that and spend less time voting on whether or not you approve of MoveOn.org?
U.S. President George W. Bush playfully slaps U.S. Congressman Al Green (D-TX) as he greets delegates following his remarks at the annual convention at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Washington July 20, 2006. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES)
Evidently, President Bush is not a man familiar with the concept of "personal space." Al Green should just be thankful Bush didn't accidently sneeze or something while he was "playfully slapping" him. That could have been really nasty.
If you've got your own caption for this photo, leave it in the comments.
