Energy We Can Believe In
Accompanied by former Governor Tom Ridge, John McCain returned to the Keystone State this week with campaign stops in Erie, Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York. We thank former Governor Ridge for escorting his good friend around our state. While Barack Obama is bodysurfing in Maui, John McCain continues to focus on the concerns facing Pennsylvanians. In particular, his visit with factory workers at the General Electric plant in Erie demonstrates his dedication to bringing about a practical solution to our energy crisis.
John McCain's comprehensive energy plan will not only help to ease the burden of high gas prices at the pumps, but will also benefit both our national security and our economy. By calling for a renewed focus on utilizing our domestic energy resources, John McCain will help us break our dependence on foreign oil that will allow us to invest that money at home. He is the only candidate to call on Congress to return from vacation and vote to support off-shore drilling so that Pennsylvanians can find some relief at the gas pump. Subsequently, McCain's energy plan, The Lexington Project, supports research into cleaner, more capable forms of energy so that our safety will not come at the expense of the environment.
It will also not come at the expense of our wallets, as McCain's energy plan is basedon two cornerstones of America: innovation and fiscal responsibility. He wants to jumpstart the auto industry by offering a $300 million prize to the company that develops a more efficient electric car because competition is the best pathway toward innovation. Consumers of electric cars would also receive a $5000 tax credit as a return for investing in America's future.
Conversely, Barack Obama feels that the way to energy independence is through higher taxes and vaugue rhetoric. He says that he wants to spend $150 billion in "clean energy," but has spoken out against hydropower, nuclear energy, clean coal and natural gas. Barack Obama supports a tax on coal and natural gas, both critical energy resources to Pennsylvania. Unlike John McCain, Obama has not called on Congress to reconvene and vote on off-shore drilling.
Pennsylvanians cannot afford a leader who wants to tax his way out of our energy problem. We need both short- and long-term solutions that will not be created by simply throwing hard-earned taxpayer money at the problem and hoping it will go away. John McCain does not set his policy according to the latest polling numbers. He provides concrete pathways to energy independence that incorporates industries that provide jobs to working Pennsylvanians.
We need a leader who believes in what he's investing in, whether it's alternative forms of energy or America. We need a leader like John McCain.
Republican John McCain on Monday began a two-day campaign swing through Pennsylvania with former Gov. Tom Ridge, and Democrat Barack Obama countered by deploying Gov. Ed Rendell as the battle for the battleground state intensified.
The presidential campaigns dueled over energy and economic policy, with McCain and Ridge stumping at a General Electric locomotive factory in Erie, and Rendell responding in an afternoon conference call. McCain plans to have a town hall-style meeting in York today.
The Arizona senator renewed his call for opening more of the waters off America's coastline to oil drilling. He criticized Congress for adjourning without legalizing such an expansion, saying if he were president he'd have called lawmakers back to Washington.
HAZLETON – U.S. Congressional candidate Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta announced that his first television ad of the 2008 campaign will begin airing Wednesday, Aug. 13.To view the ad, click here.
“As I travel throughout the 11th Congressional District, many people ask me when I am going to start airing TV commercials, so I’m happy to say that, due to the strong support I received from all across the district, I’m able to start airing commercials,” Barletta said. “Paid advertising is part of this campaign. I only wish my opponent would also be willing to meet me in a series of broadcast debates, too.”
"In an effort to reinstill confidence in state government and end any appearance of impropriety to reinstill confidence in state government and end any appearance of impropriety in general - Tom Ellis - Republican State Treasurer Candidate - is calling for campaign contribution limits for those potentially dealing with the State Treasurer's office. "Given the previous pay-to-play scandals in Philadelphia and throughout the Commonwealth, the current Bonusgate investigation and the midnight pay grab, we need to send a strong message that the office of State Treasurer will be working in the interests of only one special interest group: the Pennsylvania Taxpayer," Ellis said.Click here for the rest of the article.
During this year’s budget debate, campaign finance reform almost came to the State Treasurer’s Office. A proposed measure would have prohibited campaign contributions by those providing investment services to the State Treasury Department. The measure was an amendment to Senate Bill 1297 authored by Representative Steve Nickol. The language was stripped out, and one week later, Attorney General Corbett announced the indictment of present and former House officials in the Bonusgate scandal. “Business as usual in Harrisburg must change - it must mean transparency in the operation of government if we are to earn the public trust” Ellis added.
Treasurer’s office as soon as I am elected and take office in January.”
Under the Ellis proposal, all political contributions by those who have contracts with or which to contract with the Treasurer’s office would be prohibited except for those contributions not exceeding $250 given by State residents. Said Ellis, “In order to get this up and running in January, and not to reinvent the wheel, I would propose adoption of many of the rules and regulations already enacted by the MSRB which have proved to be workable. When a taxpayer sends his or her money to Harrisburg to pay taxes, he should feel confident that every dollar will be spent for his or her benefit and not the benefit of those merely seeking profit.” Continued Ellis, “Bonusgate was simply another warning that business in Harrisburg cannot go on as usual. We need to take the greatest precautions to give the greatest confidence possible to our people because it is the people that we work for.”
And from our friends at the Republican State Leadership Committee, we have this BonusGate Update: Ralph Nadar - The Subplot to Bonusgate Scandal.
We told you the Nader angle would keep this story in the news in fresh and exciting ways. From Phoenixville News:A subplot to the Bonusgate scandal is the ongoing drama of what state Democrats did to prevent Ralph Nader and his Green Party from gaining a spot on the 2004 Presidential Election ballot. Attorney General Tom Corbett’s investigation has uncovered a systemic effort by House Democratic employees to frustrate Nader’s ballot drive — all allegedly at taxpayer expense.
Keeping Nader off the ballot was a top priority for state Democrats in 2004. President Bush and the Democratic Party nominee U.S. Senator John Kerry were running neck-and-neck in the polls. Nader posed a threat to Kerry by virtue of his appeal to ultra-left wing Democrats who might have voted in sufficient numbers for Nader to deny Kerry a win in Pennsylvania.
