John Mica needs to get with the future or get out.
Promoting oil industry interests at the public’s expense, is nothing new to John Mica. And it's all in the family too, with his brother David Mica being a spokesman for the Florida Petroleum Council and his daughter, D'Anne being an industry lobbyist.
Not only does Mica continue to promote the oil industry agenda under false pretenses, he also completely misses the boat on viable strategies for reducing the impact of high oil prices on our economy.
Though he used to be the only US Congressman from Florida to favor off-shore oil drilling, now, and predictably along the lines of the Shock Doctrine, other Republicans have jumped on board and Mica is gloating:
I am pleased that President Bush, Senator McCain, and Governor Crist are looking favorably on an energy source that I long advocated.
What? No mention of renewable, clean energy sources in the Sunshine state?
Mica says "an energy source that I long advocated",.......isn't that the same old energy source that got us into this mess in the first place?
Getting more domestic oil production on-line will take at least 10 years. It's not at all the "quick fix" that it's made out to be. And off-shore drilling has never been the answer to increasing domestic production anyway.
Speculation and excessive oil profits are the main culprits for the $4 plus per gallon gas prices.
But Mica and the Republicans, ever the loyal protectors of Big Oil, don't want you to know.
These are the real ways we can start to lower the price at the pump:
To protect the American consumers, we need to reign in speculative excess in the oil futures market, by getting the CFTC to raise margin requirements and to close loopholes that allow unregulated speculation in energy futures.
We also need to institute a windfall profits tax, which I support just like Obama does.
Republicans like Mica rather prefer to offer "quick fix" make-believe solutions, and the politics of distraction to avoid embracing the real opportunities for economic growth that lie in the expansion of renewable and clean energy sources.
That means we need to make Big Oil pay its fair share, by getting rid of $13 billion in wasteful tax breaks a year.
Isn't it odd that just when the entire Republican Party starts shouting "Drill, drill, drill!", it is announced, without huge fanfare, that 4 American oil companies will get no bid contracts for Iraq?
Voters in Florida Congressional District 7, and all across America, ought to ask John Mica some tough questions. The kind of questions you rarely hear the traditional media "impose" on him.
After all, it isn't "nice" to ask eight-term incumbents the tough questions that should be asked.
Why did John Mica vote NO on the Clean Energy Act of 2007, and most recently couldn't get himself to vote for the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008?
The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008 passed by 236 - 182, even without Mica's support, showing just how much Mica is out of touch with today's energy priorities.
And, before we even look at Republicans' like Mica's common refrain of "increasing oil supplies to reduce gas prices at the pump", lets first examine this basic question:
Is John Mica really interested in reducing the price we pay for our gas?
Hardly. According to themiddleclass.org, one of the best tools for congressional accountability, John Mica has rarely been interested in issues that most affect the middle-class. Mica received an F for the last three consecutive years.
Is off-shore drilling really a solution to increasing supply and reducing oil prices at the pump?
Hardly. It's just an election year gimmick. An overly simplistic and short-sighted false "solution".
With a properly informed public this "feel-good" posturing should backfire on Florida Congressmen, because our economy depends on tourism which in turn requires pristine beaches.
Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have been willing to overlook the trash and tar in exchange for cash and jobs.
But Florida's $50-billion tourist industry depends on clean beaches.
Not only that, but we already have 45 million acres of onshore public lands leased to oil companies for domestic oil production, most of which is still sitting idle.
Besides the U.S. Department of Energy in a 2007 report said
opening all closed coastal areas in the Pacific, Atlantic and eastern Gulf of Mexico regions to offshore drilling ``would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production before 2030.''
Mica knows he's vulnerable this year. He's scrambling to improve his zero ratings with the Disabled Veterans of America (DAV), themiddleclass.org, the League of Conservation voters, and a host of other organizations that measure his performance on social responsibility.
Recently, there has been a flurry of articles in which John Mica portends to portray himself as a leader, but he can't hide from John Mica's Poor Judgment, and his dismal performance for the voters of Florida Congressional District 7.
Can we afford another year 17 and 18 of Mica representation?
The answer is a resounding NO.
Mica is more concerned with his national profile than in
Putting Floridians First Because Security Begins At Home
One final thought:
The war in Iraq has already lasted longer than U.S. involvement in World War II, and the projected cost is around a trillion dollars..........
The U.S. government could have spent $500 billion on an Apollo mission-like search for alternative energy and still had about $500 billion to hand to Americans as gasoline subsidies.
And we would have been well on the way toward freeing ourselves from Foreign Oil.
Please contribute to defeat John Mica:
ACT BLUE Page, Faye for Congress!
and check out my website.
Our current political environment heavily favors Democrats. According to Congress.org:
John Mica's power rating fell from 139th to 265th place.