THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL SECURITY PLAN, PART V
TKS
jim geraghty reporting
One of the key parts of the Democrats' plan is in reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. In general, this is a noble goal.
(Although imagine if, tomorrow the U.S. found a source of domestic oil in Texas that meant we never needed another drop from Saudi Arabia; Would the energy-independence crowd say to the House of Saud, "To hell with you, we don't need you anymore, you're on your own"? Because really, as much as the House of Saud is despicable (and they are), there are worse options out there. An Arabian peninsula dominated by the corrupt, double-dealing Saudis may be better than one dominated by Osama bin Laden or a like-minded snake.)
Anyway - discussing energy policy in the national security context allows the Democrats to include calls for more funding for a slew of their longtime favorite programs, and to now say that the usual domestic spending is now part of a plan to protect the country. Among the highlights:
<<< Creating a tire fuel efficiency program. Proper inflation of tires and replacing old tires with fuel-efficient tires could save 470,000 barrels of oil per day by 2013. Democrats propose creating a national tire fuel efficiency program. [S. 1882] ...
Investigating post-hurricane price gouging. Democrats passed a provision requiring the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate nationwide gas price spikes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for evidence of price gouging and its effects on the U.S. economy. [S. Amdt. 1703]
Democrats fought to impose tough criminal penalties on price gouging companies. But Republicans voted against new criminal penalties of up to $100 million on price gouging energy corporations. [2005 House Vote #500, H.R. 3402, 9/28/05. Motion rejected 195-226: Republicans 0-226;
Democrats 194-0)
Senator Mikulski and 31 Democratic Senators sent a letter to the President on October 7, 2005 urging him to bring the oil companies’ CEOs to the White House and demand that they lower their prices.
Democrats propose to provide relief to families paying skyrocketing energy costs by expanding the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and provide relief to small businesses and farmers with a tax credit and grants.
These would be paid for by repealing at least $8 billion in unnecessary
subsidies in the new energy law for oil and gas companies, which oil companies say they do not even need, and through fines from price-gouging companies. [H.R. 4479]
Aiding low-income families with high energy costs. Democrats support full funding of $5.1 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to account for the dramatic increases in cost of heating. LIHEAP budget requests have decreased since 2001 despite 78 percent increases in expenditures on heating fuels. [S. Amdt. 2033, S. Amdt. 2077, S. Amdt.
2194, and S. Amdt. 3074]
Weatherization assistance. Weatherizing homes that use home heating oil could save consumers 18 percent of their heating costs and save 80,000 barrels of oil per day. Democrats support increased funding of the Weatherization Assistance Program, which helps American consumers weatherize their homes, lowering energy consumption and costs. [S. Amdt. 3039] >>>
Only in the minds of Democrat leaders does a national security plan include a federal "tire fuel efficiency program."
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