From the Morgenthaler campaign. Good to see her hitting back at this creep.
More video here. Thanks bilco5 for the heads up. I hadn’t seen these.
I haven’t found much time for blogging lately. I’m transitioning to a new role at work and when I haven’t been working I’ve been transfixed by the Presidential contest and our rapid descent into recession or worse. But when I saw this little ad on the Huffington Post today it shocked me into activity. Yes, Peter Roskam, desperate for your vote in what appears will be a Democratic landslide year, is attempting to ride Obama’s coat tails into a second term. And yes, this is the same Peter Roskam who is serves on John McCain’s Illinois leadership team. I nearly aspirated my Diet Pepsi when I saw this.
Apparently Roskam is not sure his nasty campaign of of character assaults against Jill Morgenthaler is going to fail in much the same way that John McCain’s nasty campaign against Obama is failing. Roskam would like you to believe that voting for both Barack Obama and himself would be a reasonable thing to do. It would not. Here’s my “voter guide” to explain why.
- Roskam is helping to lead John McCain’s campaign in Illinois. He wants John McCain to become President. He wants this because he and John want to do very different things than Barack Obama. They would like to see less rather than more regulation of the financial institutions that got us into such trouble during the “anything goes” Bush years. They want to privatize Social Security, turning what’s left of your retirement funds over to Wall Street, not because it’s good for you, but because its good for Wall Street. They want to abolish the minimum wage and regulations providing equal pay for equal work. They don’t like government regulation generally and would work against rules protecting workers from hazards in the workplace or protecting our environment for our children and our children’s children. They want to continue the trend of redistribution of wealth that has taken place during the Bush years – taking more and more from the middle class and transferring it to the very wealthy. They will do this through regressive taxation – relieving large corporations and wealthy individuals of the obligation to pay their fair share, transferring that burden to the rest of us. They continue to embrace the failed “trickle down” theory of Ronald Reagan in spite of it’s obvious failure. They want to appoint extremist judges to the Supreme Court and take away every woman’s right to chose, banning abortion even when the life of the mother is at stake (you heard McCain say it in the last debate). They want to continue to undermine the religious freedom that we enjoy in this country by further eroding the wall of separation that has existed between Church and State since the foundation of our nation. They want to continue to allow big oil companies to grow richer at our expense by continuing our dependence on fossil fuels rather than implement strategies to conserve and develop alternative sources. And they would continue the Bush pattern of military aggression aimed at controlling the world’s scarce resources rather than engaging in cooperative action with other nations to solve the serious problems the world faces.
- Peter Roskam has not raised a single objection to all the many abuses of the Bush administration: the lies that were told to justify the ridiculous war against Iraq, the torture and illegal detention of prisoners, the illegal domestic spying, the outing of Valerie Plame, the politicization of the Justice Department, the Abramoff scandal, the looting by government contractors in Iraq, and on and on. By his silence, Roskam bears moral responsibility for all of them. Roskam is without a moral compass.
- Peter Roskam has done nothing in Congress except obstruct the efforts of the majority to tackle our problems. He has consistently used his vote to set up roadblocks to Democratic eforts to tackle problems such as the health insurance crisis, high energy prices, global warming, the shrinking middle class, and the plight of the poor. In order to succeed in office, President Obama will need legislator who will work cooperatively with him. Hyper-partisan Peter Roskam is not such a person.
- Roskam is insensitive to the needs of the poor and the middle class. He has consistently used his vote to aid the wealthiest americans and large corporations at the expense of the rest of us. On the basis of his voting record, Roskam was awarded the grade of F by themiddlelass.org and the grade of D by the Sargeant Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.
- Rather than use his vote to address the needs of his constituents, Roskam consitently votes for the benefit of large corporations. He has vote the U.S. Chamber of Commerce position 100% of the time. In return the the Chamber is running false adds, like the one below, claiming that Roskam is fighting for better health care. In fact, Roskam has voted multiple time against the expansion of the Children’s Healthcare Insurance Program and against parity in mental health benefits. Peter Roskam is an enemy of efforts to provide better healthcare to all Americans. He has demonstrated by his votes that he is only interested in protecting the pocketbooks of his corporate sponsors.
I urge Obama voters who might seriously consider voting to re-elect Roskam to take a close look at his voting record. There’s lots of links here that can help you do that.Even the solidly Republican Chicago Tribune has endorsed Roskam’s opponent. Roskam has used his office to serve special interests rather than to serve the majority of his constituents. He does not deserve to be returned to Washington.
Have been busy with business and vacation travel over the past month and I missed this one at the time it came up but I think it is important as it is another example of Peter Roskam’s utter lack of sincerity when he purports to be concerned about the high gasoline prices his constituents are being forced to contend with.
Back on June 24, Democrats in Congress brought to a vote H.R. 6346: Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who in his role on that committee has been working for a long time to bring real relief to consumers, unlike Roskam who has merely trotted out his energy independence dog and pony show in a desperate attempt to win votes this fall. You can see Stupak going head-to-head on price gouging last year with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto who must be getting large checks from Exxon-Mobil to argue so strenuously on the oil companies behalf. (The gas prices on the sign behind Stupak at the beginning of the clip made me weep with nostalgia).
Stupak’s bill would have allowed the President to issue renewable declarations of energy emergency of up to 30 days duration, either generally or for specific geographic areas. During these periods, those who engage in price gouging could be subject to criminal penalties. The FTC and the state attorneys general are empowered to enforce with civil and or criminal actions. Fines and penalties recovered would be required to be put in trust to provide assistance to low-income individuals and families with energy costs under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) Program.
Seems pretty straight forward. Price gouging in periods of emergency is wrong. This bill makes it illegal and those most vulnerable to high energy costs reap the rewards of its enforcement.
Sadly, the Roskam and his Republican colleagues in Congress blocked the measure, as they have done with virtually everything else the Democrats have attempted to cope with the energy crisis and promote energy independence. The day of the vote, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent out instructions to its minions on the Republican side of the House to defeat the measure and they blindly obeyed. Roskam consistently votes in accordance with the Chamber’s wishes, regardless of the impact on his constituents. The over $100,000 in campaign contributions he has received from the oil and gas industry probably helped also to ensure his “nay” vote on the bill.
If only we had a Congressman with the integrity and concern for consumers that Rep. Stupak has demonstrated. Perhaps we will yet. I remain optimistic about Jill Morgenthaler’s chances this fall. Roskam has blatantly voted against the best interests of his constituency at almost every opportunity and I think people are beginning to wake up to that fact.
On 07.21.08, In Energy, Environment, Friends of Peter Roskam, Gas Prices, Peter Roskam, Peter Roskam's Corporate Agenda, Presidential Race 2008, By RSR
Peter Roskam has spent a great deal of time touting his Energy VISION Act around the district lately. The act is supposed to be a plan to eliminate U.S. dependence on foreign oil imports in response to the crisis of high energy costs that has been caused by the last 8 years of war and mismanagement by George Bush enabled by Roskam and his Republican colleagues in Congress.
Roskam, who has attempted to block House Democrats at every turn in their efforts to develop a sound energy policy based in heavy emphasis on alternative, renewable sources of energy and increase energy efficiencies, now wants to implement a plan that he says will end our dependence on foreign oil in 15 years. Roskam’s plan emphasizes drilling in the environmentally sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and in currently protected areas of the outer continental shelf (OCS), which he says will ultimately yield a combined total of 3.9 million barrels per day.
This past Thursday Democrats gave Roskam a chance to put his money where his mouth is by bringing H.R. 6515: Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands Act of 2008 to the House for a vote. Instead, Roskam and his Republican colleagues blocked the measure.
Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands. With Americans being pummeled by $4 a gallon gas, it is high time America did just that,” stated Rep. Hoyer. “However, after months of suggesting that the only answer to bring down gas prices is more drilling, House Republicans today showed their true colors by blocking the DRILL Act – a bill which would have decisively and responsibly increased domestic oil production.”
Specifically, the DRILL Act would speed up the leasing process of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), an area of land west of the federally-protected Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) that contains an estimated 10.6 billion barrels of oil to ANWR’s 10.4 billion. The bill also incorporates the ‘Use It or Lose It’ legislation, which simply requires oil producers to drill on the leases they already have or relinquish them so that another company can produce the oil there. Finally, it would call on the President to use the powers of his office to facilitate the completion of Alaskan oil and gas pipelines, so products will get to market sooner, and it ensures that Alaskan oil will fill American gas tanks, not be exported to other countries.
“In addition to promoting responsible drilling, this bill tells the oil companies to drill on the leases they have, or let somebody else do it – but don’t just sit on them while Americans are paying $4 a gallon,” stated Hoyer. “I see no reason to give even more handouts of public land to companies enjoying record profits and billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. Let them start on the land they already have, which will bring oil to the market more quickly.”
Oil and gas companies currently hold leases to 68 million acres of federal land and the Outer Continental Shelf on which they are not producing oil and gas. Eighty-one percent of estimated oil and gas resources on federal lands and waters are already available for development – 311 million acres. These reserves are equal to 107 billion barrels of oil and 658 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – more than 14 years of current U.S. oil consumption (7.5 billion barrels per year).
Roskam instead proposes a plan that:
- Allows oil companies to sit indefinitely on their existing leases without drilling while prices climb even higher allowing them to increase their future profits
- Puts highly sensitive ecosystems at risk of irreversible damage
- Makes no assurance that oil ultimately produced will make it into gas tanks in this country
- Relies on questionable math in its calculations regarding future energy independence
It is clear that there will be real action taken regarding the nation’s energy crisis until we elect a Democratic president this fall and increase the Democratic majority in Congress. Roskam and the Republicans are in Big Oil’s pocket and can be counted on to do absolutely nothing to help Americans who are suffering through this crisis.
On 07.20.08, In Energy, Environment, Gas Prices, Peter Roskam, Peter Roskam's Corporate Agenda, By RSR
Big Oil has been having a tough time lately. Since George Bush took office, gasoline prices at the pump have more than tripled, forcing the oil companies to absorb huge windfall profits and causing whining, irrational consumers and Democrats in Congress to question the large subsidies that the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress have provided to the companies and to ask themselves whether we should be using so-called “alternative” forms of energy.
Now just as things were beginning to look bleak for Big Oil, our own Congressman, Peter Roskam, has unveiled a plan to help the oil companies weather these difficult times. Disguised as a plan to address the high fuel prices that consumers so unfairly complain about, the Roskam plan cleverly nips all talk of renewable, clean, alternative energy sources in the bud, and secures our dependence on fossil fuels into the distant future.
The Roskam plan is stunning in it’s simplicity. It focuses on two major actions: tax breaks to the wealthy and unrestrained domestic drilling.
Under the Roskam plan, residents of the 6th district who are suffering hardship from high gasoline prices will be able to receive a substantial tax credit for trading in their Hummer or Escalade for a smaller, more sensible Lexus or Mercedes. Who said Roskam was insensitive to the needs of the disadvantaged?
For many years now, Democrats and other communists in the environmental movement have successfully thwarted Big Oil from drilling in protected areas offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the name of protecting the environment. Well screw the environment! Peter Roskam’s energy plan tells these tree-hugging pansies who’s boss. Why drilling in ANWR alone will knock 4 cents off the cost of a gallon of gasoline within 20 years and supply a whopping 3 percent of our nation’s energy consumption no later than 2027. Democrats in Congress have tried to insist that the oil companies must first pursue drilling in the 5,500 oil leases that they currently possess. Roskam won’t rest until Big Oil has it all, tourists and pelicans be damned.
But Peter Roskam is no Johnny-Come-Lately to the cause of Big Oil. Since coming to Congress, Roskam has consistently used his votes to advance the interests of the Oil Companies and ward of threats posed by alternative energy technologies and increased fuel-efficiency standards.
Thank God, in these harrowing times, the oil companies have a friend like Peter Roskam. Remember that when you vote this fall.
Addendum: the pinkos over at Progress Illinois have a post questioning the math Roskam is using to promote his plan. Imagine. Suggesting that a sitting Congressman running for re-election might somehow use fuzzy math to his own political advantage. It boggles the mind.
On 06.02.08, In Congressional Elections, Energy, Peter Roskam, Peter Roskam's Corporate Agenda, By RSR
Peter Roskam was on NBC 5’s City Desk this past Sunday morning for a softball interview with host Mary Ann Ahern. Roskam opened with his usual complaints about a dysfunctional (read that as Democratic) Congress. He wants you to believe that he’s a reasonable guy who just wants to get thing s done for you but he’s stymied at every turn by less responsible members who are only interested in partisan politics and serving the needs of special interests.
Roskam is not telling you the truth. He is not only one of the most partisan members of Congress but also one of the most slavishly devoted to special interests.
During the current Congress, Peter Roskam has voted with his party 93.2% of the time. There are only 17 out of a total of 435 members, Republican or Democrat, who have voted more consistently with their party than Roskam. They are:
- Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), 93.9%
- Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), 93.8%
- Rep. David Davis (R-TN), 93.8%
- Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA), 93.8%
- Rep. Stevan Pearce (R-NM), 93.8%
- Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH), 93.8%
- Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), 93.7%
- Rep. David Dreier (R-CA), 93.6%
- Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), 93.6%
- Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA), 93.6%
- Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), 93.6%
- Rep. Zachary Wamp (R-TN), 93.6%
- Rep. John Mica (R-FL), 93.5%
- Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), 93.4%
- Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), 93.3%
- Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), 93.3%
- Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), 93.3%
It should be noted that only 4 out of 17 of these are Democrats. So Roskam is among the most hyper-partisan representatives and a member of the most hyper-partisan party. He is upset, not because of partisanship, but because his party is in the minority. He should be reminded that this is the case because his party proved to be massively corrupt in the previous Congresses and because it launched a preemptive aggressive war against a sovereign power which posed no real threat, sent a few thousand brave American men and women to their graves in that cause, and mortgaged our children’s future to pay for it all.
As for special interests, Roskam has compiled an impressive record, voting the position of the National Association of Manufacturers 100% of the time during his first term. Doing this has meant voting against the interests of the residents who live in his district on issues like equal pay for equal work, Medicare prescription drug price negotiation, and parity in mental health benefits for members of group health plans.
Roskam also spent a good deal of time on the show talking about high gasoline prices and the need for alternative energy sources. Roskam’s record however is one of obstructing Democratic efforts in this regard and voting instead in favor of protecting the big oil companies who are currently gouging us, all the while accepting substantial campaign contributions from the energy sector.
So 6th District residents, it is not Congress that is dysfunctional. It’s your Congressman. But don’t worry, we’re going to replace him this fall.
[Progress Illinois has a post today about Roskam's attempt to justify his vote against the new GI bill on the same program]
