Deadly Fear Stalks The GOP As Incumbents Learn The Cost Of Shilling For Big Oil

After rubber stamp Republican hacks, with John McCain's magic coat tails, lost congressional races in Illinois and Louisiana a few months ago, the Republican Party defiantly declared they didn't care and would continue using the same negative, vicious ads tying Democrats to Obama and Rev. Wright and Muslims and whatever garbage they could dig up. That was followed by an even more shocking defeat in a Mississippi district that is so dark red (i.e.- white) that Democrats normally don't even run there. That made the Party leaders a bit less defiant, a bit less cocky. In fact, they started running around like chickens without heads screaming "every man for himself" and suggesting incumbents run against the Party and against Bush. The most dishonest of the rubber stamps just started voting with the Democrats, especially the really vulnerable ones with especially strong opponents, like Floridians Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the Diaz-Balarts (who now just do whatever their gal pal Debbie Wasserman Schultz tells them to do), as well as Dave Reichert (R-PA), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Chris Shays (R-CT) and even as reflexive an extremist as Robin Hayes (R-NC) and Phil English (R-PA). All of them voted for Rosa DeLauro's amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, something few if any of them would have ever considered in their re-elections weren't in jeopardy. And all of them voted for the Foreclosure Prevention Act, hysterically opposed by the GOP leadership. Furthermore, they were joined by other vulnerable Republicans petrified that their reactionary voting records could catch up with them-- like Judy Biggert (R-IL), Ric Keller (R-FL), Jon Porter (R-NV), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA/FL), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), Mike Turner (R-OH), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and even far right zombie-like caucus leaders David Dreier (R-CA) and Adam Putnam (R-FL). Fear runs deep in the GOP these days.

And it should. Last week a Republican incumbent, David Davis (TN) lost his primary for exactly one reason: his opponent, another Republican, obviously, pointed out that he voted for all Big Oil's bills while taking their money ($19,000)-- which was virtually nothing compared to the real Big Oil whores up for re-election like John Cornyn R-TX- $1,313,825), James Inhofe (R-OK- $1,076,573), Don Young (R-AK- $954,013), Mitch McConnell (R-KY- $649,011), Steve Pearce (R-NM- $596,324), Ted Stevens (R-AK- $469,440), John Culberson (R-TX- $301,961), Gordon Smith (R-OR- $293,325), Roger Wicker (R-MS- $263,435), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV- $257,995), John Sununu (R-NH- $232,030)... If you haven't seen it already, take a look at the TV spot Davis' opponent ran.

It's the spot every Democrat should be running-- well not Mary Landrieu (D-LA- $612,244), Dan Boren (D-OK- $$363,210), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV- $283,600), Rick Boucher (D-VA- $240,167), Nick Lampson (D-TX- $174,942)... the spot most Democrats should be running because the only Republicans in Congress who are not Big Oil whores are Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Jeff Miller (R-FL). Nevertheless, CongressDaily reported yesterday that that despite Davis' loss in Tennessee, they "will not change the party's drive for more drilling to address high gas prices, even if that opens the GOP to criticism for its ties to oil companies."

GOP Minority Leader Boehner, contacted on the links, said he didn't think Davis' defeat signaled trouble for other Republicans, and he announced that GOP House members would continue swinging air pressure gauges over their heads and "protesting the lack of action on energy bills for two more weeks. But Democrats were gleeful. 'Clearly, Republican ties to Big Oil come with a price,' said Doug Thornell, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee."

Davis was one of about a dozen Republicans who switched votes July 30 to keep a bill aimed at curbing oil market speculation from getting the necessary two-thirds majority to pass under suspension of House rules. The switch came after Republican leaders lobbied them on the House floor during the vote. Republicans have successfully discarded several energy bills House Speaker Pelosi has brought up this summer under suspension, while protesting a lack of votes on increasing access for oil and gas drilling in federal waters. Republican operatives say Davis, who narrowly won a six-way primary two years ago, lost because he ran a poor campaign. He is the fourth incumbent to lose a primary this season but the first to be tied to the energy issue. Davis received $2,000 from Exxon Mobil Corp.'s PAC this cycle, along with $5,000 from Eastman Chemical Company's PAC, whose headquarters are located in the district and which is a major user of petroleum.

Senior GOP sources with extensive campaign experience in Southern states downplayed the impact of the "Big Oil" hit on Davis' loss, noting he made significant mistakes, including failing to maximize his incumbent status when raising funds for a primary challenge and not responding well to the oil-donor charges. Davis raised around $50,000 more than Poe this cycle. "Even if he took big oil money, there is no excuse for David Davis to lose," said a southern GOP operative. Davis countered Roe's oil company attacks with radio ads denying that he "pocketed" oil money and accused his opponents of deceptive campaign practices, a tactic that GOP campaign experts said never works. "It was an unforced error that wouldn't have happened if the campaign would have been run properly," the operative said. "And if you don't pull the fire alarm and ask colleagues for help [money], no one will help you."

But, remember, Davis' loss was in a Republican primary in a hellishly red district. In November, Democrats and independents will be joining Republicans in voting out bribe-taking Big Oil shills who kept raking in thousands and thousands of dollars while helping bill oil avoid billions of dollars in taxes while driving the price of gasoline from $1.51/gallon when Texas oilmen George Bush and Dick Cheney took over the country, to around $4.00/gallon today. So while McCain is leading the GOP down the road to ruin-- promising more tax breaks for Big Oil (they gave him over a million dollars so far this year), while opposing tax breaks for companies working to develop alternative sources of energy he gives lip service support to-- Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dennis Shulman, the Arizona Democratic Party, and Rick Noriega (D-TX) are getting the hang of it. And so is the DCCC:



A friend of mine just sent me a note that he had sent to Jack Cafferty demanding to know why not one single news organization has posited the theory that gas prices are being lowered in advance of the elections to aid the GOP even though Republicans are largely seen to be in the pocket of big oil and taking the price of gas off the table will help them immensely in November. He suggests something ad revenues.

High Gas Prices, Republican Policies And The Personal Finances Of Members Of Congress

David Davis: the party's over

As we mentioned earlier, far right extremist David Davis (R-TN) lost his primary bid for a second term yesterday. And he lost it to another far right extremist. So why did TN-01 Republican voters toss out one reactionary for another? The incumbent reactionary got tagged by the reactionary challenger as a shill for Big Oil, which was very appropriate-- because he is. In fact he's one of the silly clowns running around Capitol Hill all week waving air pressure tire gauges over their heads and twittering instead of spending time with their constituents. As Greg Sargent write this afternoon at TPM "Indeed, Davis was so sure that the issue was a political winner for him and the GOP that he issued a triumphant press release Wednesday about his heroic role in the initial "revolt" several days earlier, and even bragged that he'd be returning to Washington to keep pushing the issue. And indeed, according to a Dem leadership aide, Davis was on the floor yesterday pushing the drilling stuff-- on election day."

For the last month DWT has been highlighting the connection with high gas prices and Oil Industry bribes/"donations" to Republicans and Blue Dogs. This is particularly pronounced in terms of the crooks and clowns who are part of the twittering imbeciles with the air pressure gauges, who, collectively, have collected millions of dollars from Big Oil and always carry water for the oil and gas companies, putting in place tax breaks, policy, and legislation that have led directly to the outrageous profits and more outrageous prices at the pump. People like Chris Shays, Michael McCaul, Adam Putnam, Scott Garrett, John Kline and John Shadegg may be elected, respectively, by voters in Connecticut, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Minnesota and Arizona but their first loyalties, at least as far as energy, has always been to the big corporations that fund their careers. John Shadegg has taken $119,495 from Big Oil. He has voted to make sure they get whatever they want-- regardless of what it has cost the consumers in Paradise Valley. When John Kline voted over and over and over to give Big Oil the ability to suck billions of dollars from working families for energy costs do you think he was thinking about what it costs to get from Burnsville, Lakeville or Eagan-- let alone Faribault-- to the Twin Cities? Do you think he considered what it costs to heat homes in Goodhue, Le Suerur, and Scott Counties or was he thinking about the $118,705 Big Oil donors "donated" to him?

This morning Paul Blumenthal, writing for the Sunlight Foundation brought up an aspect of the role of personal finances in these legislative decisions that I hadn't thought about: the ownership of substantial amounts of stock in Big Oil corporations and how votes impact the value of those investments. Paul asks the question, who stands to make the most money, personally, if McCain and a Republican/Blue Dog Congress get to continue the Bush-Cheney energy policies. These are the House members who have the really big investments in Oil companies. Should they be voting on policies that could make themselves even richer?



There are a handful of honest members of Congress on this list who do not vote their own financial interests, but vote for their constituents' interests-- Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), David Price (D-NC), Steve Cohen (D-TN), James Oberstar (D-MN)-- but no one on this list should be voting on energy policies. And many of them-- particularly Robin Hayes (R-NC), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Virgil Goode (R-VA), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Fred Upton (R-MI), and Mary Bono Mack (R-CA)-- have been less than honest in talking with their voters about energy policy and how and why they vote the way they do, votes that have cost their constituents millions and millions of dollars.

Since Robin Hayes is at the very top of the chart (i.e.- the bottom of the barrel) we reached out to Larry Kissel, his Democratic challenger. Larry's at an orientation at Wake Forest for his daughter's freshman year. But we reached Thomas Thacker a spokesman for the campaign. "If we leave Robin Hayes in office two more years every square inch of this land will be leased to the oil companies. The people he is supposed to represent in the 8th district only have one Congressman and he has failed them miserably while voting the interest of his friends in big oil. He is getting richer every time the price of gas goes up as the common people like Larry Kissell are getting poorer trying to pay high energy costs." 


UPDATE: HAYES ISN'T THE ONLY REPUBLICROOK TRYING TO INCREASE THE PRICE OF GAS

I asked two other Blue America candidates to comment on the fact that their opponents own significant amounts of stock in oil companies and have been voting for policies that have driven up the price of gasoline and heating fuel. Gary Peters is in a very hard-hit Michigan district, whose congressman, Joe Knollenberg, votes so frequently with Big Oil (like always) that you might get the idea that the whole district was swimming in oil and every one of his constituents was raking in the big bucks from increased gas prices. But they're not; a greater and greater proportion on the income of Oakland County residents is going to gasoline and energy costs. "One of Congressman Knollenberg's and the Bush Administration's biggest failures has been their utter refusal to enact an energy policy that will actually help our economy, and not simply the profits of the Big Oil companies. After eight years of failed leadership, Michigan needs leaders in Washington who will take action to implement a real energy policy, and who will work to protect Michigan jobs instead of oil company tax breaks."

Tom Perriello in south and central Virginia has a similar situation and his opponent, Virgil Goode, is just as sleazy and self-dealing as Knollenberg. "This is just another example of how the corruption in Washington is crushing working families at the pump. The auto industry can make more money buying off politicians than they can building me a more fuel efficient truck. Until we get leaders in Washington who stand up to the special interests, folks who are working hard and playing by the rules will continue to fall further and further behind, and I'm sick and tired of it."

Tennessee Republicans Vote For Roe-- Against Big Oil

Last night we were so exultory about Steve Cohen's triumph over Evil in Memphis that we almost forgot to mention some more good news. Right-wing extremist, David Davis, one of the most radical kooks in Congress, lost his primary bid for a second term yesterday. It was very close but he was beaten by Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe. Davis didn't lose because he's an extremist-- Roe is a wing-nut as well. He lost because he's corrupt and was caught trading favors for "contributions," including from oil companies. If those are going to be the standards in November there won't be any Republicans left in Congress and it's also bye-bye Blue Dogs. Roe used the Democratic Party argument that Davis was in the pocket of Big Oil and was partially responsible for driving up the price of gasoline with his bought and paid for votes on their behalf.

TN-01 is such a Republican hellhole (PVI is R+14 and Bush took 68% against Kerry) that Democrats aren't even fielding a candidate. Davis' voting record is as far right as you can go without falling off the edge of the world. There's not a single saving grace on a single issue and when you examine just sharply contested substantive votes he ties with lunatic fringe Republicans like Tim Walberg (R-MI), Mike Pence (R-IN), John Kline (R-MN), Phil Gingrey (R-GA) for the second worst score-- a 0.47 out of a possible 100-- in the entire House. His record was to the right of well-known extremists like Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Lamar Smith (R-TX), Adam Putnam (R-FL)... even Doug Lamborn and Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado!

Don't expect much moderation from Roe; his platform is as whacky as Davis'-- only he pledges to not take PAC money. We'll see how long that lasts. Watch his anti-Big Oil ad. Democrats should be making similar ones: