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THE COLLINS RECORD - BIG OIL OVER MAINERS/THE ALLEN RECORD - MAINERS FIRST
AUGUSTA- In recent media accounts, including an op-ed appearing in the Bangor Daily News last weekend, Senator Susan Collins says she believes "it is absurd to expect taxpayers to continue to subsidize the soaring profits of the oil and gas industry." But when Senator Collins voted for the Cheney energy bill, she helped place the burden of a $14 billion giveaway to Big Oil and Gas on the backs of
hard-working Mainers.
"While taxpayers foot the bill for this windfall, Senator Collins voted against bills to prevent price gouging to protect consumers and stop market manipulation by greedy speculators," said Carol Andrews,
communications director for the Maine Democratic Party.
"When Senator Collins votes, Big Oil and Gas win while Maine's middle class families and small businesses lose," Andrews said.
In her piece appearing in the BDN on Saturday, Dec. 8, Senator Collins wrote "now is the time to seek energy independence." Yet for 11 years, she rejected several opportunities to assert energy independence by voting for Bush-Cheney giveaways to Big Oil and Gas instead of consumers and freedom from foreign oil. "Senator Collins talks one way in Maine but votes the other way in Washington,"
Andrews said.
Highlights of the Collins Record
* Allow market manipulation. Senator Collins opposed closing the Enron Loophole. In 2003, she voted against an amendment to regulate online trading of energy derivatives and impose stringent penalties for market manipulation.
* Allow price gouging. Senator Collins voted against imposing windfall profits tax on oil companies. In 2005, Collins voted against an amendment that would impose a temporary windfall profit tax on crude oil and to rebate the tax collected back to the American consumer.
* Support Bush-Cheney Big Oil Giveaway. Senator Collins voted to preserve $14 billion in energy tax incentives, including breaks for Big Oil and Gas. In 2002, Collins voted against prohibiting any of the approximately $14 billion in the energy bill's tax incentives, until new tax hikes or spending cuts were enacted to offset the revenue loss that would come from that $14 billion in tax relief.
In stark contrast to the Collins record as an ally to Big Oil is that of Congressman Tom Allen, who has spent the same 11 years putting Mainers first. "Tom Allen's record shows that he consistently opposes reckless Bush-Cheney policies that feed our addiction to foreign oil. He believes that to achieve energy independence we must tap American innovation and entrepreneurship and invest in conservation, efficiency, and alternative and renewable energy sources," she said.
Highlights of the Allen Record
* Price gouging prevention. Tom Allen is an original co-sponsor of the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act giving the Federal Trade Commission the authority to investigate and punish unscrupulous companies for ripping off consumers. This legislation passed in the House, but has stalled in the Senate by lawmaker allies of Big Oil.
* Barmarket manipulation. Tom Allen supports The Close Enron Loophole Act to prevent speculators from getting rich on the backs of consumers.
* Rollback Bush-Cheney Big Oil Giveaway. The 2005 Bush-Cheney energy bill amounted to a $14 billion giveaway to Big Oil, even during a time when energy companies reported record profits. Because Tom Allen believes Big Oil doesn't need or deserve breaks but that Mainers do, he voted against the legislation back then. Most recently the House has approved the rollback, but in the Senate, Big Oil allies have refused to allow a floor vote.
* Help for Small Businesses. Tom Allen introduced the Small Business Fuel Cost Relief Act as part of a comprehensive package to help Maine's small business owners. This legislation creates a tax credit for fuel expenditures - including gas, diesel, natural gas and heating oil, and raises the IRS Standard Mileage Rate to 60 cents for owners who use their vehicle for business purposes.
"Maine families and small businesses are struggling to pay for heating fuel and gasoline, paying about $1 a gallon more today than they were a year ago," Andrews said. "Mainers have a clear choice between two Senate candidates whose records in Congress for the past 11 years offer a stark contrast and a clear choice. A vote for Susan Collins is a vote for more of the same failed policies of the past. A vote for Tom Allen is a vote to change direction and for leadership toward a clean, affordable and sustainable energy future."
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