McCain is providing the American people with “gimmicks”

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) said in a conference call with the Barack Obama campaign, that John McCain (R-Ariz.) has spent the week exhausting himself with a double talk dance and presenting new and opposite views on many of his policies.

Kerry outlined several positions that McCain has changed on over the past few weeks such as torture, offshore drilling, drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). McCain said that he would “be more than happy to examine that again” even though he previously said it wasn’t worth the time. Kerry said that the U.S. has only three percent of the world’s oil and John McCain used to know his stuff and argue is points well, but now “running for president has evidently provided an opportunity for double talk” or more of the Washington game at the expense of the interest of the American people.

Kerry said that before McCain can start debating with Obama, he needs to finish debating with himself. The fundamental distinction between Barack Obama and John McCain is that Obama understand that you can’t drill your way out of this crisis but that you need alternatives, Kerry said. McCain is offering the same Bush mentality that oil can solve every problem. The United States cannot have leadership that pretends there is a solution for getting more oil and gas through U.S. sources that will help the current crisis, the leadership need to be focusing on alternative energy solutions, he said.

St. Paul Minnesota Mayor, Chris Coleman agreed with Kerry’s remarks and said that McCain’s gas tax holiday is “the biggest gimmick McCain has put out there.” Whereas Obama has proposed significant and real steps towards a more secure future, McCain has only proposed more Washington gimmicks and flip flopping policies.

Hoyer said McCain is continuing to flip flop

At the pen and pad briefing with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-M.D.) today, Hoyer said that McCain changes position so rapidly and is continuing to flip flop in his policies. Oil and gas companies hold the leases to 6.8 million acres of government land on the outer continental shelf, and they are not producing oil. 4.8 million barrels of oil could be produced if they drilled there, but McCain is ignoring what has already been authorized, Hoyer said. He said that democrats are supportive of offshore drilling and that alternative energy is what Congress and others should be focusing on.

Hoyer thinks that Obama is doing the right thing meeting with Clinton and others. He said in reference to Democratic party unity, “I believe it will happen” because there is a gulf of differences between McCain and Obama. While Clinton supporters are rightly disappointed right now because their candidate lost, Hoyer believes that more then 90 percent will support Obama because their country’s interest come first.

The supplemental bill going through the House right now will offer funds for the troops, address all the issues the President recommended and also offer assistance for the emergency in Iowa. Hoyer said the supplemental is the “critical focus” of the next 24 hours.

Senator Reid offers serious solutions to the rising energy costs

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing today on the challenges and regional solutions to developing transmission for renewable electricity resources. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) made a statement before the committee, discussing the bill he introduced, S-2067, which directs the President to identify and designate zones where renewable energy resources can generate at least 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

Reid’s bill will also provide new financing options for building transmission lines and connecting remote renewable energy zones to the grid. Renewable energy companies cannot always afford to pay up front for new transmission lines and the costs of connecting to them. Reid said his bill "is a serious effort to find solutions to the challenges of our energy security and global warming problems,” and offers funding for private companies to invest in renewable energy solutions.

Also present at the hearing was Kevin Kolevar, assistant secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability at the Department of Energy. According to the Energy Information Administration estimates that by the year 2030, U.S electricity consumption will increase by almost 30 percent from the 2006 level. Kolevar said this opens up a new demand on electricity generations and that our nation can increase production from wind, solar, nuclear and coal generation to meet the need.

T. Boone Pickens, chairman and CEO of BP Capital, spoke in favor of wind energy development. Even though Pickens made his fortune off of oil, he said today that “we must develop and promote every available domestic energy resource to solve this crisis” and that private enterprise will invest money of Congress adopts clear, predictable policies. Pickens said that natural gas is the second largest energy resource in the country, and if the natural gas the U.S. is using for electrical generation is moved to transportation, the U.S. can replace 38 percent of our foreign oil imports.

Ailing economy makes every day a struggle

Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) held a press conference today on “Making the American Dream More Affordable.” Reid said that Republicans are preventing progress on making higher education more affordable and improving social security and Medicaid. Dorgan said that the economy is “sick” and that the minority in the Senate keeps saying no to the necessary changes Democrats wants to make.

Treena Walker, an office cleaner and single mother, said that she struggles to provide for her children, unable to pay for all of the food, gas, and healthcare her family requires. Sadie Coleman, a senior member of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said that she struggles to pay for her medications and that she has seen friends cut pills in half to make medications last longer. Sheila Isong, a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, said that she has overwhelming student loan debt and hopes that the Democrats can make real changes to make high education more affordable.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), said that the Senate is mere votes away from passing legislation to ease economic woes, but that the minority is preventing progress

McCain campaign slams Obama comments on gas prices, tax policy

Arizona republican Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign held a conference call addressing the comments of Senator Barack Obama concerning what to do with appalling gas prices and tax policy.

Speaking during the call was Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) who described Obama as a candidate “out of touch” with the middle class Americans he claims to support. Cantor said that Obama’s recent sentiments suggested Americans should “get used to” high gas prices.

Doug Holtz-Eakin, senior policy advisor to Senator McCain, continued to advocate McCain’s calls for a “gas holiday” this summer, which he claimed would give Americans the immediate relief they desperately need. Also, Holtz-Eakin said McCain’s employment policy was structured to keep American workers in America, as opposed to having company’s ship jobs overseas.

Holtz-Eakin also said Obama has claimed he wants to spend more money to implement his plans, but that he also wants to cut taxes, which is an impossible goal to realize.