Today in Washington D. C. - June 12, 2008 - “It’s Domestic Energy, Stupid!”

On The Floor: The Senate resumed consideration of the motion to proceed to the Medicare payments bill (S. 3101). The Medicare bill would prevent a pay cut for doctors and replace it with a 1.1% pay raise, but would pay for that by cuts to private Medicare Advantage plans which Republicans oppose. At 3 PM, senators will vote on cloture on the motion to proceed to the Medicare bill. ARRA Editor: Where in the Constitution did Congress get the right to regulate the pay / incomes of private citizens (in this case doctors). Considering the long-term impact of these inept elected officials, seniors may find their future access to healthcare limited and the government making the choice whether an individual should or should not receive healthcare services based on the individual's economic cost or worth to society.

Gas Prices - It’s Domestic Energy - Stupid! In light of the judgement of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Democrats leaders on gas prices, Sen. Mitch McConnell this morning again questioned their judgment: “If people are being forced to change their lifestyles, if the price of goods is skyrocketing, that’s apparently all right, according to our friends on the other side. Their Presidential nominee even admits it. He says the high price of gas isn’t the problem. The problem, he says, is that prices went up too quickly. If he had his way, he would have raised prices much more slowly. He would have preferred that gas prices go up more slowly than the $1.00 increase we’ve seen under the new Democrat Congress over the last year.”

After yesterday's criticism of Obama appeared on TV, radio, blogs and news publications, an Obama spokesperson finally responded on Fox News: “It shows is how John McCain’s allies in Washington are trying to distract voters from the fact that just yesterday, they voted again to protect Big Oil’s profits—while we’re paying record prices. Senator McConnell knows exactly what Barack Obama meant: the huge strain caused by high gas prices is made even worse when they climb so quickly.”

There’s little controversy as to how Obama feels about the rate of change in gas prices. As the ARRA News reported yesterday, Obama said, “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing.” The problem is that Obama seems to be okay with the direction prices are going. Senate Democrats leaders are in the same camp. Sen. Charles Schumer, chair of the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee told Roll Call that when it comes to coordinating the message between Senate Democrats and the Obama campaign, “It won’t be that hard because we’re already singing from the same page.”

Sen. McConnell summary of the Democrats’ approach to the problem of gas prices: “In a month when gas prices have hit record-highs, Democrats have proposed three things: a massive carbon tax, a tax on energy companies, and allowing trial lawyers to sue our trading partners. This isn’t an energy plan. It’s a caricature. It’s a caricature of a party that seems incapable of conceiving any solution to any problem that doesn’t involve taxation or litigation.” However, Investor’s Business Daily summed it up best: “It’s Domestic Energy, Stupid!”

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Tags: Barack Obama, Charles Schumer, domestic energy, gas prices, healthcare, medicare, Mitch McConnell, US Congress, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!