Driving through the district today, gas station after gas station displayed gas prices around the $2 mark. The lowest price I saw today was $2.06 in Elk River. It seems like only yesterday papers and pundits in my district and around the country were mocking the mere notion of $2 gas -- but here we are.

What happened the past few months to lower the cost of gas? Several things, but perhaps most importantly, Congress has let the ban on offshore oil exploration and oil shale expire, sending a signal to the markets that the United States may finally be ready to up their supply. Also, the collapse of the global markets has stabilized the American dollar. In other words, we're now getting more bang for our buck.

But to forget about the heavy strain that gas prices have had on the American household and economy over the past year - from filling up the gas tank to buying groceries - would be setting ourselves up for another fuel crisis in the near future.

Today I met with local inventors and innovators in St. Cloud to discuss their work on clean and renewable energy technologies and to discuss my legislation, H.R. 6716, the Promoting New American Energy Act, that would help us pave the way to American energy independence.  

The Promoting New American Energy Act would launch a wave of energy research, investment and innovation by aggressively accelerating tax depreciation for cutting-edge and renewable energy technologies – making America’s energy production more competitive with foreign nations.

Present at the St. Cloud meeting were Dave Wendorf from Sartec, a company developing algae for use as an alternative fuel; Dan Stevens, Director of Regulatory Affairs at CDC Enterprise, Inc.; David Tripp, Executive Director of Metro Transit, which adapted a bus to run on french fry oil; and Diane Moeller, principal of the Kennedy Community School in St. Joseph, where they are exploring a variety of innovative energy technologies on campus.

We need to take an All-of-the-Above approach to energy and open up our onshore and offshore oil and natural gas stockpiles, as well as pursue alternative forms of energy. To do one without the other would be self-defeating.

Last Thursday, the Washington Times published an op-ed I wrote about the effects of the $700 billion bailout bill passed by Congress a few weeks back.

Whether you agree or not that the bailout bill was the way to go, there are many issues that still need to be addressed to get our economy back on track. For instance, the bill did nothing to address the underlying problem affecting our economy, and that's the credit crunch.

I hope you'll take a few minutes and give it a read.

"Recently, in a series of incredibly bold moves over the course of a week, the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury took historic steps to intervene in the American economy. And, the American public barely batted an eye.

"First, the Fed took the nearly unprecedented step of buying up unsecured debt. While the Fed hasn't announced how much commercial paper it would buy through this program, it did say it would be "substantial" and that $1.3 trillion of the $1.75 trillion in outstanding commercial paper comes from eligible issuers."

Read the full op-ed

Last Friday I sent a letter to Stephen Johnson, the Administrator of the EPA, regarding newly proposed EPA regulations of greenhouse gases.

As a result of the Supreme Court's ruling on April 2, 2007 in Massachusetts vs. EPA, greenhouse gases are now considered an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act. The problem with this is that the EPA now has a vast swath of power in which they can implement and regulate emissions standards, a power that has been long reserved to the United States Congress. Essentially, the EPA can now make overly broad regulatory pronouncements that could devastate our current fragile economy.

The proposal goes so far as to make specific engineering and design specifications, including how many grass clippings a lawnmower must make per gallon of gas.  It would impact American farms, businesses, and homes.  The authority assumed under this proposed rule would raise the price on energy, causing a domino effect that increases the costs of transportation, food manufactured goods and more.

This massive regulation could cost the American economy an estimated 7 trillion dollars in lost GDP in just 20 years, undoubtedly resulting in massive job losses. During this current economic crisis, we cannot afford to put the American economy in any further turmoil or hardship that could hinder its recovery. 

For more information on the EPA's proposed regulations, check out the Heritage Foundation's Stop the EPA website.

I, along with 28 other members of the House Financial Services Committee, have sent a letter to the Committee's Chairman Barney Frank, urging him to invite former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to testify at the scheduled hearing on October 21 on restructuring and reform of the financial system.

I've also requested hearings on alleged abuses by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which receives significant funding from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development and has made many headlines in recent weeks for alleged election fraud.

The non-partisan Tax Foundation released their 2009 State Business Tax Climate Index earlier this week, and Minnesota was in the spotlight. Minnesota made the list of the ten WORST states for businesses, coming in at 41 - not exactly the place we want to be in today's already sluggish economy.

The foundation notes, "The modern market is characterized by mobile capital and labor. Therefore, companies will locate where they have the greatest competitive advantage. States with the best tax systems will be the most competitive in attracting new businesses and most effective at generating economic and employment growth."

The Index has been published yearly since 2003. It ranks states based on the taxes that matter most to businesses and business investment: corporate tax, individual income tax, sales tax, unemployment tax and property tax.  The states are scored on these taxes, and the scores are weighted based on the relative importance or impact of the tax to a business.

For more background on their findings, click here.

To read the full report, click here.

Last week, I voted twice against the nearly $1 trillion Wall Street bailout bill in the U.S. House. The first bill (with a $700 billion price tag for taxpayers) failed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority.  Then the Senate passed a second version that was loaded with tax "sweeteners" in an attempt to attract enough lawmakers in the House who voted "Nay" the first time around to switch their vote to pass the bill. That jacked the price tag up to $810 billion.  You've got to love Washington.

We were supposed to be voting on a financial bailout bill, but unfortunately we got much, much more.

Taxpayers for Common Sense have listed their Top 10 Tax Sweeteners in the recently passed Bailout Bill. As the organization notes, not all of these are outrageous on their own, but when we are supposed to be voting on a bailout package that is already putting the American people further in debt, these extras are the last thing that should be thrown into the mix as political currency to attract votes. They should have been dealt with at another time.

1.) Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children ($2 million)

2.) Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility ($100 million)

3.) Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands ($192 million)

4.) Sec. 301. Extension and modification of research credit ($19 billion)

5.) Sec. 504. Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation ($49 million)

6.) Sec. 601. Secure rural schools and community self-determination program ($3.3 billion)

7.) Sec. 201. Deduction for state and local sales taxes ($3.3 billion)

8.) Sec 502. Provisions related to film and television productions ($478 million)

9.) Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds ($148 million)

10.) Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa ($33 million)

Check out Taxpayers for Commonsense for more information on these provisions and several others.

The bailout bill that the U.S. Senate passed late Wednesday night is not the remedy for what ails this nation's economy. While we are all anxious to take action to help America recover from it's current financial crisis, it does us no good to pass a bill that does not address the underlying problem before us, and that's the credit crunch.

After the defeat of the original proposal in the House on Monday, Congress had an opportunity to really address some of the shortfalls of the failed bill. Instead they loaded on millions of dollars in pork barrel spending and a couple of other "treats" to lure members of Congress who voted "Nay" the first time around to reconsider their vote. From tax incentives to mental health parity (which, by the way, deserve their time to be considered and voted upon), they should not be strategically placed into a bill of this magnitude that is supposed to specifically address the credit crunch facing our nation. It is irresponsible, and proof enough that Congress deserves its 10% approval rating. Instead of being a source of calm in the eye of a storm, a good many lawmakers have lost their good sense and jumped overboard to back a bill that does nothing to really address our current financial crisis, other than give Americans a false sense of economic security.

There are simple steps that we can take to make the problem in front of us much smaller, and much easier to handle. The Free Market Protection Act (H.R. 7223) is an alternative economic rescue plan that puts us on a better path to attack the roots of the current crisis. Among other things, it would suspend the capital gains tax, schedule the government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) for privatization, and suspend mark-to-market accounting requirements.

Take a look at it in more detail here .

And, there are steps that the SEC, FDIC, and FASB can take already within their regulatory authority to make a real difference.

We must be calm, and while we should work speedily, we must not work hastily. Sadly, the bill passed by the Senate that is now in the House is a result of the "urgent" need to pass "something," rather than the "right thing."

 

While the focus of everyone's attention right now is on the economy, it wasn't too long ago that the big issue in front of Congress was energy. It's safe to say that at least some of the economic hardship that Americans are facing today can be directly related to our lack of energy independence.

Today, the Congressional moratorium on off-shore drilling and oil shale expires, and Republicans can take solace in knowing that our insistent calls for the Speaker of the House to address this issue paid off... at least for now. Even more so, the pressure that Americans put on Congress to address the energy issue went a long way in forcing Speaker Pelosi's hand on this issue.

However, much more work needs to be done so America can actually start tapping into this energy potential. We must pass legislation that expedites the leasing and permitting processes and safeguards energy companies from frivolous and unwarranted lawsuits that can stall the production process for several years.

To see the letter to Speaker Pelosi I signed with 154 other members calling for the expiration of the moratorium, click here.