Nat Gas Act

I got a note back from my congressman - more of a Tea Party Republican - that he could not support a bill that asks for spending at this time. While I understand that a spending bill is unpopular right now I feel his reaction is a one dimensional look at the situation. Here is what I sent as a reply to Rich Nugent - FL District 5:

Rich,

I have had a while to think about your
response to my asking you to support the NatGas act. I well understand your
reasoning and see it coming from a single dimension. True, the financial crisis
we are in has put pressure on you to look for areas not to spend or not to give
away tax breaks. We have supported this act from the point of view of reducing
dependence on foreign oil. Yet converting our truck fleet to fuel other than
diesel will have another effect - that of creating jobs and eventually creating
a net export when we convert the Louisiana facility to fill gas tank ships
rather than off load them. Converting and installing fueling stations on the
interstate highways will create jobs...as will building new pipelines.

China may produce some of the materials
for this but it will be American workers that install this infrastructure. This
would get our truck fleet off of foreign oil and drastically cut imports - in
fact we can then import only from friendly countries. In the end game, after
taxes are added to NatGas, the cost per gallon equivalent should be a
significant reduction from the $4 per gallon or so truckers are paying now.
That should help the consumer down the road. So, somehow I believe your
position fails to see that the NatGas act is a positive investment in America's
future.

Dan

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Permalink Reply by Tim McCoy on September 19, 2011 at 12:52pm

Your congressman is bending over a dollar to pick up a dime. He cares about the budget deficit, but what about the trade deficit? This bill is not a waste of money like ethanol, this bill will create jobs, increase government revenues, increse the tax base, have a ripple effect ofmore folks having more spending money and lower the price at the pump (and, even more spending money) for gasoline as they would see their only real competition in 100 years.

Please tell your congressman to think big picture. Not all tax credits are bad, just like not all household spending is bad. This is like an American Family "saving" by not sending their kid to college. These things can backfire later when the kid is 35 years old and being a financial burden when they could have been a major contributor.