Issue Position: The Economy and Gas Prices

Issue Position

Issue Position: The Economy and Gas Prices

From the security that comes from owning a home, to the mobility that comes from driving a car, the American dream is in peril. Congressman Moran believes we need to restore that dream and get this economy back on track.

Representative Moran has been leading the effort to soften the blow done by the housing crisis. On July 23rd Congressman Moran voted for the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act. This bill performs two primary functions among others. First, it helps Americans facing foreclosure keep their homes and helps prevent other Americans from experiencing foreclosures in the years to come. Second, it provides for independent oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other Government Sponsored Enterprises. These two features, plus the remainder of the bill, will do much to ensure that all American families can experience the pride and stability that comes with home ownership.

In regards to fuel prices, Congressman Moran, along with economists, believes that a "Gas Tax Holiday" is a gimmick, a gimmick that harms the American people. All the evidence suggests that a Holiday would not lower the price of gas. Oil companies would pocket the money that used to go to the government, and prices would remain the same. Even if they did, out of the kindness of their hearts, decide to lower their prices it would still be a foolish idea. This is because the gas tax pays for road and infrastructure repair. Getting rid of the tax would mean losing thousands of construction jobs. In addition, cars run more efficiently on well-maintained roads, meaning that if you get rid of the tax you'll have to buy more gas.

Offshore drilling is an equally mistaken proposal. The gains, if they exist, are minimal when compared to the cost. First, oil companies already have 68 million acres of coastal areas to drill, but they aren't. Instead, they are using the current political climate to pressure Congress into letting them have more. Second, experts agree that it will take 7-10 years before we see a drop of oil from any offshore platform and it will be just that: a drop. Expanded drilling will only lower the price of gas by a few cents. The same is true of drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, where the price of gas would drop only two cents. The potential cost of such drilling to our environment, in an Exxon-Valdez like oil spill is not worth it. As T. Boone Pickens said, "this is one emergency we cannot drill our way out of," not because we lack the ingenuity or the will, but because we simply do not have the oil. America only has 3% of the world's reserves and yet we use 24% of the world's supply. We need to go in a new direction.

Jim Moran has long advocated for this new direction. He supports investing heavily in green technologies that will bring clean and domestic energy out of the lab and onto to the lot. Jim Moran also supports a $1000 middle class tax credit to offset the rising price of fuel, without doing the damage of a Gas Tax Holiday or expanded drilling.

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