House Democrats Pass Impressive Energy Bill
On Thursday, Democrats in the House passed an important energy bill that raises fuel economy standards, increases development of clean-energy technology, and reduces the production of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. All of DAPAC's eight elected members of Congress voted in favor of the bill, and the overall vote in the House was 235-181.
Joe Courtney, a DAPAC-endorsed Congressman from Connecticut's 2nd district, stated, “This one piece of legislation achieves three goals. The bill helps consumers, protects the environment, and reduces our dangerous dependence on foreign oil ... The President must know that we will never be able to drill our way out of the problem of high gas prices and I urge him to immediately sign this bill into law.”
The bill includes a 40% increase in the fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks sold in the US, and by 2022 it would increase the production of ethanol and other biofuels from 5 billion gallons a year today to 36 billion gallons a year. By 2020, Democrats estimate that 1.1 million barrels of oil could be saved every day.
President Bush has already said he will veto the bill if it remains in its current form. Additionally, cattlemen, coal producers, and multinational oil companies will be lobbying against the bill as it heads to the Senate. The bill will most likely undergo changes before it reaches the Senate floor, but Democrats in the Senate remain determined that a substantive energy bill will be passed and sent to Bush.
Access and Cost Top Americans' Health Concerns
A new Gallup Poll released this week asked the open ended question: What would you say is the most urgent health problem facing this country at the present time? Of those polled, 30% answered that access to health care is most urgent, and 26% named cost. After these top two responses, specific diseases were the most common answers, including cancer (14%), obesity (10%), AIDS (2%), and diabetes (2%).
Access and cost are relatively new health concerns among the American public, and as recently as two decades ago, virtually no one mentioned these issues as the most urgent problem. DAPAC's candidates understand the importance of health care reform, and all of our candidates support universal health care.
Congressional Primaries Arriving Soon
We are less than two months away from the start of the Congressional primary season. DAPAC already has two excellent progressive candidates running in the February 5th primary in Illinois, and we are actively screening other candidates for additional Illinois districts now. To help us in our efforts, please consider one last donation for the 2007 year. You can donate online by clicking here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment