B Boxer's Response to a Constituent
 

From: senator@boxer.senate.gov [mailto:senator@boxer.senate.gov]
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:08 AM
To:
Subject: Responding to your message



Dear Mr. ------------l:

Thank you for contacting me regarding high gasoline prices. I appreciate the opportunity to hear your views on this important issue, and I share your concerns.

Gasoline prices reached an all-time high this year, and costs for food and other basic necessities are rising drastically. As millions of Americans struggle under this increasing burden, oil companies continue to report massive, record-breaking profits - $123 billion last year alone. This is unacceptable, and I want to assure you that I am working hard to lower prices and protect Americans from price gouging.

I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of S.3044, the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008. This important bill would impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies to discourage price gouging and to help consumers offset the high costs of energy products, punish any country or company colluding in setting the price of oil, and limit excessive speculation in oil markets.

S.3044 also includes a provision that is similar to legislation I authored that would require the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible manipulation of gasoline prices any time prices rise rapidly.

Unfortunately, on June 10, 2008, the Senate minority blocked further consideration of S.3044. At a time when so many Americans are struggling to make ends meet and having to make the impossible choice between buying food for their families and filling up the gas tank, I am deeply disturbed that some of my colleagues prevented this important bill from moving forward.



Opening up drilling in the United Statesis not the best way to achieve lower gas prices. For example, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) would provide us with six months of oil at most, and at great cost. Furthermore, it would be more than a decade before we saw any of that oil. Ultimately, we need to move away from our dependence on oil and gasoline by developing renewable and efficient energy technologies. Right now, we need to go after the big oil companies that are holding Americans hostage with their exorbitantly high prices.

Americans deserve better than oil companies that gouge consumers in order to make huge profits, and Congress needs to take action to help alleviate this crisis. Rest assured, I will continue working for the passage of S.3044, and I will keep fighting to help Americans enjoy fair and reasonable energy prices.

Again, thank you for writing to me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future on this or other issues that concern you.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Please visit my website at http://boxer.senate.gov

is she really that ignorant, or does she just hope her constituents are, and that an oversimplistic and untrue statement will placate people enough to put them back into their mind-numbed lemming stupor?

We should sick Tabs and Mule on her. Maybe she'll retaliate with Nukes.

We should sick Tabs and Mule on her. Maybe she'll retaliate with Nukes.

Californians just keep voting for that slug.

I have a 23¢ solution.

Ronin, she's not dumb at all, it's the folks who put & keep her there.

Rika

We ain't drillin'!

That was form letter #6503 out of 10,000 forms.

+1

I only saw one sentence I could disagree with.
Right now, we need to go after the big oil companies that are holding Americans hostage with their exorbitantly high prices.


so what else did you find wrong?

She hasn't faced any real competition. And w/o term limits for federal Senators (as well as Representatives), it looks like she will be around for awhile. I mean come on, her last challenger Bill Jones had about as much of a chance as I did.

You want to see something, put LA mayor Villaraigosa up. That will be fun. A loose cannon and a lib.

Sure, he is a typ lib, banging the newswoman from the Mexican TV while he was married. But now she is fired and where is his wife?

Maybe Newsom from San Fran, banging his buddys wife while he was married.