The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Randy Kuhl has filed a discharge petition in an attempt to force a vote on HR 5656, a bill which repeals a ban on use of alternative, more polluting sources of energy for government vehicles. Kuhl's petition is part of an effort by Republicans to paint Democrats as “worshiping at the altar of radical environmentalism”, in the words of Minority Leader John Boehner.

The repeal bill, sponsored by Jeb Hensarling [R-TX-5], applies to the recently passed energy bill. It's based on the Air Force's desire to fund research into fuels derived from coal gassification, oil shale and oil sands. However, as Hensarling's own press release admits, it's not even certain that the provision his bill is trying to repeal applies to the military, and it's also not certain that the alternative fuels would be more polluting.

If the Republicans were seriously concerned that the energy bill restricts the military's power to research alternative fuels, they could have worked with Democrats on a clarifying bill. Instead, they wanted to give John Boehner a talking point, and here you have it.

Update: According to this article in the Hill newspaper, the issue raised by section 526 has already been addressed in an amendment to the Defense Appropriation bill that passed last month. The solution was bi-partisan, with Dan Boren (D-OK-2) offering the amendment in the House, and James Inhofe (R-OK) planning to do the same in the Senate. So Kuhl's discharge petition and the Hensarling bill look like a solution in search of a problem, and a way to make some noise.

Welcome to the new, somewhat improved, and slightly different Fighting29th.

Other than the appearance, the main changes are the comment procedure, and the earmarks and significant votes sections.

Comments are now "threaded" so you can hit the "reply" link to reply to a previous comment. Also, you should only be asked the "CAPTCHA" question once, and then your email and name will be remembered for a while. The security question is now a little simple math. Since few were using logins, I didn't bother re-implementing them in this version.

Earmarks and Significant Votes are now linked to pages in CongressDB that contain data from Taxpayers for Common Sense and Project VoteSmart. Both of those are new CongressDB features, by the way. You can look up other legislator's 2007 earmarks and their Key Votes (according to Project VoteSmart) if you're interested.

An old friend used to say "all change is decline". That's not my intention, so please send me an email if you see anything amiss.

Eric Massa is quoted in today's Messenger-Post, calling the Iraq war operations vote "disappointing". Randy Kuhl supported the bill, and his press release is here.

Massa also explains, in detail, why he'd have voted against the FISA bill that recently passed the House, with Randy Kuhl's vote. Massa's reasoning has to do with the Fourth Amendment, which is only taken seriously by 128 Democrats and one Republican in the House. Randy Kuhl's excuse for his vote is posted here.

Eric Massa is quoted in today's Messenger-Post, calling the Iraq war operations vote "disappointing". Randy Kuhl supported the bill, and his press release is here.

Massa also explains, in detail, why he'd have voted against the FISA bill that recently passed the House, with Randy Kuhl's vote. Massa's reasoning has to do with the Fourth Amendment, which is only taken seriously by 128 Democrats and one Republican in the House. Randy Kuhl's excuse for his vote is posted here.

Eric Massa released his new energy plan at the grand opening of his Corning office yesterday evening.   The plan [pdf] includes a windfall profit tax on oil companies, with the proceeds going to fund American-made hybrid cars; renewable energy through switchgrass ethanol; raising CAFE standards; no drilling in ANWR, and states making the final decision on offshore oil drilling

Massa's plan and office opening were covered by WETM in Elmira and Syracuse's News 10.

Update:  Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader page [pdf] with pictures from the grand opening.

Eric Massa released his new energy plan at the grand opening of his Corning office yesterday evening.   The plan [pdf] includes a windfall profit tax on oil companies, with the proceeds going to fund American-made hybrid cars; renewable energy through switchgrass ethanol; raising CAFE standards; no drilling in ANWR, and states making the final decision on offshore oil drilling

Massa's plan and office opening were covered by WETM in Elmira and Syracuse's News 10.

Update:  Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader page [pdf] with pictures from the grand opening.

The Olean Times-Herald and the Hornell Evening Tribune both have stories based on yesterday's Massa press conference.

Instead of getting a Kuhl reaction, the Olean paper quotes Republican John Peterson, who represents neighboring PA-5. In an interesting contrast with Randy Kuhl, Peterson is apparently running against everyone this election:

In my home state of Pennsylvania, residential utility shut-offs are up 51 percent because of record high energy prices. Yet, while all this is occurring, President Bush and Speaker Pelosi continue to make it illegal to produce energy offshore on the outer continental shelf.

Kuhl calls Massa's plan to limit oil company profits "socialism" in the Evening Trib.

Today's Massa press conference concentrated on oil, and Randy Kuhl's plan for $2/gallon gas.

Reader Elmer sends a story [pdf] about a new federal grant for the Corning/Elmira airport, which was announced by Randy Kuhl.

Kuhl also makes the Wellsville Daily Reporter story about a state loan to fix the Belfast water system.

It's become a custom for the local Member of Congress to announce every federal grant that hits his district, whether or not his office had anything to do with that grant. But the Wellsville Daily Reporter just established a new standard by quoting Kuhl in a story about a state loan, especially since there's no indication that Kuhl was connected to it in any way.

Reader Elmer sends a link from today's Corning Leader, reporting the vandalism of Eric Massa's vehicle yesterday morning. A window was broken on his minivan, which was parked in front of the Massa family home in Corning.

Rochesterturning first reported this yesterday.