As more than 31 million Americans hit the road this weekend to kick off their summer vacations, one Florida congressman is announcing his plan to keep those trips affordable by lowering the price of gas and groceries -- if only he can convince President Obama and the Democrats to hop on board.
It's pretty simple: I want to lower your gas bill and your grocery bill, and I think that there are ways to do that legislatively, freshman CongressmanTrey Radel, R-Fort Myers, tells Sunshine State News. A lot of it is not creating more laws, but getting government out of the way.
Radel will formally announce his Gas and Groceries Initiative Wednesday morning at a Fort Myers Sunoco gas station. Radel is pushing Congress to pass, and the president to sign, four pieces of legislation he says will positively impact Americans' pocketbooks.
Approval of the Keystone Pipeline
HR 3 (the Northern Route Approval Act) would authorize construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would transport oil from Canada to the United States
In the big picture that means two things: first jobs, jobs all over the U.S. and indirectly affecting us right here in Florida, Radel says. It's also national security: most of us would prefer to be energy-independent, or at a minimum dealing with people who are friendly to us, who have our best interests in mind.
The bill, which has already passed the GOP-dominated House of Representatives, would allow the pipeline to be built without a subsequent executive order from Obama, who has opposed the pipeline after citing concerns brought to his attention by liberal environmentalist groups.
Oil and Gas Agreement Between the U.S. and Mexico
HR 1613 (the Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act) would encourage the United States and Mexico to develop oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico. Such an agreement is expected to open up 1.5 million acres of oil production in the Gulf.
I'm for dealing with our neighbor and not sending out money to a very unstable Middle East where we have no idea what their intentions are for us, whether we're talking about the highest levels of government, or where that money gets funneled to, Radel explains.
Capping Ethanol in Gasoline
HR 1462 (the RFS Reform Act of 2013) would eliminate corn-based ethanol requirements in gasoline and cap the amount of ethanol that can be blended into gas at 10 percent. Radel says the current standards artificially increase the demand for corn, which increases the prices of corn, corn-based products, and items that compete with corn for farmland (e.g., eggs, bread, chicken, steak, and dairy products).
This is a great start to getting the government out of the ethanol business and mandating fuels altogether., he says. I think if we have the government out of the way, we'd have so many different options for us today.
Crop Insurance Reform
Under current federal law, the federal government -- i.e., U.S. taxpayers -- pay crop insurance companies 62 percent of farmers' premiums; the insurance policies compensate farmers if their revenues fall for any reason whatsoever, not simply if they suffer losses from bad weather or pests. HR 943 (the "Crop Insurance Subsidy Reduction Act) would reduced those subsidies to about 37 percent, where the levels were in 2000.
We are doing everything wrong with our farmers today. We are paying people not to grow stuff, Radel says. What [HR 943] does is save taxpayers billions over several years. This will encourage farmers to invest in their land, [instead of getting] guaranteed income from the government.
The Southwest Florida congressman hopes he can convince other Republicans, and especially Senate Democrats, to get behind his initiative, which he was inspired to kick off in the hopes of communicating an easy-to-understand conservative message to the average voter.
One of my biggest frustrations with the Republican Party in particular is we're the nerds in the corner talking about things like debt-to-GDP ratio, while the Democrats are telling the American public that we want to throw their grandmother off a cliff, he tells SSN. What we need to do as a party is convey to the American people what we want to do for them and what will make this economy get back on its feet and have people get back to doing what they want to do: work, earn some money, pay their rent, buy a home, and live their American dream.
Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.
