Congressional candidate challenges LaTourette
on high gas prices while pumping, discounting gas
WICKLIFFE, Ohio (May 29, 2008) - Democratic congressional candidate Bill O’Neill contested record gas prices at the pumps today and the failure of Congress in letting this crisis get so far out of control. At a campaign event, he pumped gas for 113 people and discounted their fill-up by $1.13, the price of gasoline when Steve LaTourette first went to Washington.
“I’m here to make a clear statement to the voters of Northeast Ohio – I will do everything in my power to fight for lower gas prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil – even if it means taking a few dollars out of my own pocket and pumping gas,” O’Neill said. “Unlike my opponent, who has funded campaign after campaign with the help of Big Oil companies, I have never taken a dime from Big Oil and I never will.
“This campaign comes down to ‘whose side are you on?’ Steve LaTourette is on the side of the Big Oil and Gas corporations, who have rewarded him handsomely for his pro-oil votes. I'm on the side of Ohio consumers, and that's why I'll never take their money,” he said.
Since 1994, LaTourette has received $275,720 from various oil and energy companies, according to the nonpartisan campaign finance site OpenSecrets.org. Gasoline cost $1.13 per gallon the first week of January, 1995. He voted in February against a measure to remove tax credits for oil and gas companies and invest them in alternative energy (H.R., 5351).
“It is just plain wrong that the Big Oil companies are making record profits while you and I are paying record prices at the pump,” O’Neill said. “And to think that our leaders in Washington, including Steve LaTourette, have fought to give these companies billions of dollars in tax breaks while this is going on is just appalling.”
O’Neill said that LaTourette’s solutions are taken right out of the oil companies’ playbooks.
“What we need is leadership from Congress, and that means changing our approach. The same-old game plan isn’t going to solve this crisis,” he said. “We need to stop thinking of different places to drill for oil, and start investing in other forms of energy. Look around Northeast Ohio and you’ll see plenty of opportunities to invest in smart, forward-thinking energy – from wind and solar power to light rail to non-food-based ethanol. And these aren’t just energy solutions – these are job solutions.”
# # #