If we needed any more evidence that the Republicans plan on beating the pro-drilling drum all the way to Election Day, here it is.
The Courier News reported yesterday on the National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) efforts to paint 14th District Rep. Bill Foster as "obstructionist" for voting to adjourn the House for August recess:
"Where's Bill Foster?" read the title of a recent NRCC e-mail blast to the media.
In it, the committee -- which spent close to $1.3 million in support of Oberweis leading into March's contest -- targets Foster for voting to recess instead of staying in Washington to debate energy policy. Last week, the NRCC released an "energy report card" that painted Foster as unwilling to get behind solutions to energy issues.
"Bill Foster has used his brief stint in office to define himself as an out-of-touch obstructionist, but this report card paints an alarming picture of a member of Congress who will do anything he can to side with Democrat leadership instead of the people of Illinois," NRCC spokesman Ken Spain stated in one release
The fact that the Republicans are targeting Foster in this fashion shows that they plan on using the August recess to attack any and all Democrats. After all, Foster is not exactly anti-drilling. He recently joined a bipartisan group of House members in supporting a bill that would expand offshore drilling and use some of the revenue from those new leases to fund the development of renewable and alternative energy sources.
Is Foster's chosen bill the right answer for Democrats? Not in my opinion. But he also can't be accused of "sid[ing] with the Democratic leadership."
Greg (not verified) on Wed, 08/27/2008 - 20:41
A compromise position to the drill, drill, drill drum beat is essential to the progress of Illinois and the nation as a whole. I believe that any thoughtful analysis, as by a business manager intent on solving a tough business problem, will show that, since we are, at this moment, wedded to the yoke of gasoline and diesel for surface transportation, petroleum resources continue to be a necessary part of our lives; drilling is necessary. But that same analysis will reveal that growing physical limitations in the supply of petroleum will prevent Illinois, America and the World from attaining a single element solution; alternatives are critically needed. Development and implementation of many and various alternative technologies is now and will continue to be a growing economic driver in Illinois: witness corn ethanol, wind turbines, the renewed efforts to reestablish the FutureGen coal plant concept. Cellulostic ethanol, distributed photovoltaic, rejuvenated electrical distribution systems, hydrogen power systems, and technologies yet unnamed will be added to the mix. Tapping into this technological energy revolution can do for Illinois and America what the computer revolution did in the last fifteen years of the Twentieth Century.
This is not a job for a rearward-looking conservative, for this is not a conservative job; it is a job of change, for forward-looking progressives, for the future of America. Bill Foster understands this and will help it happen.
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