But at Least He Voted to Commend the Wildcats for Winning the Orange Bowl

Oh, Don Young, Representative for All Alaskans, orator, man of letters.

I've often thought that the reason we keep electing him is just that the Dems rarely put up a decent candidate. (Diane Benson being the exception.) But perhaps it is because he is so rarely here that we don't usually get to hear what jackassery he is speaking back there in D.C., supposedly on our behalf.

By which I offer the following example from debate on the Clean Energy Bill¹:

This bill, and I am wearing this red shirt today, is the color of the bill that we are debating, communist red. It is a taking. And regardless of what one says, it will go to court, and it should be decided in court. It should be decided there.

My biggest concern, it is often said the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this is a great example. The good intentions of this bill are a pursuit of new forms of energy to replace our dependency. We all support that.

But even The Washington Post, which is not my favorite newspaper, says this is a low-wattage bill and it fits the realm of Russia and Putin, and it fits Bolivia and Venezuela. And if there is anything this bill will do, in fact it will increase the competitive edge of foreign oil imported to this country. That is what this bill does.

Oh, the gall of the Democrats in wanting to close some royalty loopholes. Not surprisingly, Young and every other one of Big Oil's congressional lackeys called it an imposition of the dreaded t-word, ignoring the fact that the lack of royalties came about not by design but by a big screw up in the first place²:

The bill targets the flawed deepwater oil and gas leases that were awarded in 1998 and 1999. Contrary to longstanding practice, these leases did not provide for royalty payments - no matter how high oil prices rise. H.R. 6 requires that these leases be renegotiated to ensure the American taxpayer receives a fair royalty for public-owned resources; failing that, the companies would be barred from seeking new offshore drilling leases. The legislation also closes a tax loophole that allows oil and gas companies to take advantage of a tax provision intended to encourage domestic manufacturing. Further, the bill would create a Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve to invest in clean, renewable energy resources and alternative fuels, promote new energy technologies, develop greater efficiency and improve energy conservation.

How awful we consider doing such a thing after the record profits Big Oil has been posting? How communist! How anti-American!

¹http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=110-h20070118-19
²http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/mi12_levin/pr011807.html
Photo source: http://polnotes.typepad.com/windfarmblog/