Amidst the pork in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was $6 billion in subsidies to oil and gas companies1. At the time Congress passed the act, the five biggest oil companies had just posted record profits of $52 billion for the first half of the year2. Republicans voted 87% for the act and Democrats voted 58% against it (R 87% for; D 58% against3x4). During debate, House Democrats tried to remove the item for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), but it failed (R 87% against; D 84% for5). The House-Senate conference later removed the ANWR drilling item. House Democrats tried to remove the item to suspend royalty payments for off-shore drilling, but that amendment also failed (R 87% against; D 86% for7). In the Senate, Democrats tried to add an amendment stating the country should commit to action against global warming, but it failed (R 88% against; D 83% for6). On the heels of the Energy Policy Act, House Republicans passed “Energy Bill #2″, to benefit oil refineries at a cost of $5 billion (R 92% for; D 97% against8). The Senate has not yet taken up “Energy Bill #2″. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 also authorizes money for renewable energy and energy efficiency, but President Bush’s 2007 budget proposal called for less than half of the funding for those programs9. With 80% of the $17 million in oil & gas company political contributions in 2004 going to Republicans, it looks like the industry got a sweet return on its investment, and the G.O.P. got a solid claim to the name – “Grand Oil Party10x11“.
Bumper Sticker
“Grand Oil Party” bumper stickers are sold out at MoveOn.org, but I will send one to the first reader of The Paragraph who emails quinn @ theparagraph.com with his name and address. THE BUMPER STICKER HAS BEEN CLAIMED.
Ohio Oil Votes
In this study all Republican Ohio congressmen are 100% pro-oil, and no Democratic Ohio congressman is more than 25% pro-oil.
| Congressman | Dist. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | *Pro-Oil Vote % * | 2006 Democratic Candidate for this Seat |
| DeWine – R | Sen. | Yes | – | – | No | – | 100% | Sherrod Brown |
| Voinovich – R | Sen. | Yes | – | – | No | – | 100% | – |
| Chabot – R | 1 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | John Cranley |
| Schmidt – R | 2 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Victoria Wulsin |
| Turner – R | 3 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Stephanie Studebaker |
| Oxley – R | 4 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Richard Siferd |
| Gillmor – R | 5 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Robin Weirauch |
| Strickland – D | 6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | No | 25% | Charlie Wilson |
| Hobson – R | 7 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | William Conner |
| Boehner – R | 8 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Morton Meier |
| Kaptur – D | 9 | No | Yes | Yes | – | No | 0% | Marcy Kaptur (i) |
| Kucinich – D | 10 | No | Yes | Yes | – | No | 0% | Dennis Kucinich (i) |
| Jones – D | 11 | No | Yes | Yes | – | No | 0% | Stephanie Tubbs Jones (i) |
| Tiberi – R | 12 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Robert Shamansky |
| Brown – D | 13 | No | Yes | Yes | – | No | 0% | Betty Sutton |
| LaTourette – R | 14 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Lewis Katz |
| Pryce – R | 15 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Mary Jo Kilroy |
| Regula – R | 16 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Thomas Shaw |
| Ryan – D | 17 | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | No | 25% | Tim Ryan (i) |
| Ney – R | 18 | Yes | No | No | – | Yes | 100% | Zack Space |
(1) Energy Policy Act – Yes is a pro-oil corporate welfare vote
(2) Delete ANWR drilling – No is a pro-oil vote
(3) Delete royalty breaks – No is a pro-oil corporate welfare vote
(4) Address global warming – No is a pro-oil profits vote
(5) Energy Bill #2 – Yes is a pro-oil corporate welfare vote
Notes:
- In this article not voting is counted as a vote for the winning side.
- (i) = incumbent
- Rep. Strickland is running for Governor of Ohio
- Rep. Brown is running for Senate
Sources
1 ‘The Best Energy Bill Corporations Could Buy: Summary of Industry Giveaways in the 2005 Energy Bill’ – Public Citizen
2 ‘Senate Democrats are Working to Lower Energy Prices’ – democrats.senate.gov
3 ‘On the Conference Report, Bill: H R 6, Senate Vote’ – Washington Post Votes Database
4 ‘On the Conference Report, Bill: H R 6, House Vote 445′ – Washington Post Votes Database
5 H.AMDT.72 Amends: H.R.6 – Library of Congress / Roll Call
6 ‘On the Amendment (Kerry Amdt. No. 844 )’ – U.S. Senate
7 H.AMDT.96 Amends: H.R.6 – Library of Congress / Roll call
8 ‘H.R. 3893, Gasoline for America’s Security Act of 2005, Cost Estimate’ – Congressional Budget Office] / Roll call
9 ‘Bush promotes energy options’ By Ron Hutcheson, Knight Ridder
`It’s great that the president is talking about our addiction to oil, but his policies are feeding the habit,’‘ said Jeremy Symons, director of the National Wildlife Federation’s global warming campaign and a former staffer on Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force.
“The budget that came out funds less than half of what the recent energy bill promised for renewable energy and energy efficiency — the two most readily available opportunities to break our addiction to oil,’‘ Symons said.
10 ‘Is It Still The Grand Oil Party?’ by Eamon Javers, Business Week
11 ‘Grand Oil Party’ – Blognonymous
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By Quinn Hungeski – Posted at G.N.N. & TheParagraph.com
Just wanted to pop by and thank you for the link back to Blognonymous and for the excellent article. You nicely tie up quite a few threads.