The Institute for Energy Research (IER) began airing radio ads in Colorado and New Mexico today opposing the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill, which the Senate is scheduled to consider this week.
IER joins the Club for Growth and President Bush in arguing that the bill would raise energy prices and wreak havoc on the U.S. economy. The Club for Growth launched its own ad campaign opposing the bill last week.
"Disguised as environmental reform, it
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Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) is recruiting support for an online protest of high gas prices.
Armey sent an email to members of FreedomWorks, the interest group where he serves as chairman, blaming congressional Democrats for high gas prices -- a current rhetorical theme for Republicans.
"Bad policy from Congress is a major reason gasoline is going through the roof. Led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress continues to block development most of America
The Club for Growth says it will begin airing television and radio ads today in Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Montana opposing the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill.
The ads will call on Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to vote against the legislation when the Senate considers it next.
Sens. John Warner (R-Va.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced the legislation in 2007 to direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a program to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The Club for Growth says the bill's proposals to limit those emissions would be disastrous for the economy. See one of the television ads below:
The economically conservative Club for Growth released its congressional scorecard for 2007 today. Four lawmakers received perfect scores for their 2007 performances: Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).
Those four, along with five other senators and 46 other representatives, received the Club's "Defender of Economic Freedom" award. See the Club's scorecard here.
The truckers activist group Truckers and Citizens United is set to hold a rally at the Capitol today to protest high gas prices, with truckers traveling to Washington, D.C. in a convoy from Pennsylvania.
Organizers arranged a meeting in Harrisburg, Pa. at 6 a.m. today, with truckers heading into D.C. in a convoy that reportedly caused rush-hour traffic delays in Pennsylvania. The group called for "everyone who is affected by high fuel costs"--including home heating oil--to gather for the convoy.
The truckers are scheduled to park at RFK stadium and walk to the Capitol, protesting on the Capitol's West lawn. Truckers and Citizens United's scheduling information says the rally's permit lasts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
According to the group's mission statement, Truckers and Citizens United pushes for "immediate stoppage to the subsidies being given to big oil" and release of oil from the nation's strategic petroleum reserves. The group has circulated a petition calling on the U.S. government to act on fuel prices, gathering 1,198 signatures.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is circulating a letter sent by the speaker of the Colombian House of Representatives to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). In it, Colombian Speaker Oscar Palacio criticizes Pelosi for her opposition to the U.S-Colombia free trade agreement President Bush sent to Congress April 7.
In the letter, Colombian Speaker Oscar Palacio says the U.S. House's decision to shelve the agreement "affords colonial treatment to us that is unbefitting one of the United States' staunchest allies." The House voted April 10 to circumvent the fast-track law applying to trade deals and shelve the agreement, despite President Bush's attempt to force a vote.
Palacio also says arguments based on violence against Colombian union members are "erroneous." U.S. labor unions have used violence against union members as a cornerstone of their opposition to the deal. The LA Timesoutlined violence against Colombian unionists in March.
"Under the framework of the Democratic Security Policy, Colombia has made great efforts to prevent crimes of that nature from occurring," Palacio says.
See the text of the letter, as provided by USTR, below.
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Eight Democratic lawmakers and three activist groups will use tax day to call attention to the cost of the Iraq war, ceremonially presenting taxpayers tomorrow with a jumbo-sized IRS 1040 form showing how much each American family owes for the war.
Participating lawmakers are Reps. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Keith Ellison (Minn.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), and Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas). The groups are USActon, Americans United for Change, and Iraq Campaign 2008. The lawmakers and groups will gather on the Cannon terrace at 10 a.m.
According to Schakowsky's office, the war has cost $526 billion directly with a $1.3 trillion on the U.S. economy. When that sum is divided, Schakowsky's office says, it leaves the average American family with a $16,500 cost for the war.
A border security and immigration PAC is calling for a nationwide boycott of Absolut Vodka for an ad the Swedish distillers ran in Mexico portraying an "Absolut world" showing Mexico extending across much of the western United States.
The vodka company has pulled the ad, but William Gheen of the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), told The Hill "that's not good enough on this one" demanding that the ad agency as well as the executive that approved the ad be fired by Absolut.
ALIPAC and 100 other groups will go ahead with a boycott of the vodka, organizing the boycott through a website the PAC created.
"Absolut vodka is trying to sell liquor to Mexicans that aspire to control the Southwest United States," Gheen said in a statement announcing the move. "Everywhere we look, Global corporations have a hand in this brewing disaster and Absolut just made the list."
The ad has attracted attention from various other border security groups and bloggers. One bloggers on the conservative site RedState wrote, "time to pour the Absolut down the drain. The brand from my beloved Sweden will have to be replaced."
"In no way was this meant to offend or disparage, nor does it advocate an altering of borders, nor does it lend support to any anti-American sentiment, nor does it reflect immigration issues," a spokesman for the company said on its website.
For a Republican in Congress, signing the pledge not to increase taxes is all but required; pledge signers include all but 21 GOP members of Congress. The hottest pledge list, however, is the one to swear off earmarks. Since Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) signed the earmark pledge last summer, 36 others have joined him, including Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), who signed on Wednesday.
Biggert, in a press release, said that while she supports a moratorium on earmarks for all of Congress,
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