Okay, we're going to set aside the partisanship long enough to see if we can hammer out an agreement on oil policy. No bickering, no finger pointing. Everybody must compromise some to get what they want.

politicalforum bill #1: The bipartisan energy independence omnibus bill (henceforth referred to as "the Free and Clear act")

In accordance with the United States Constitution; annotated, the congress is directed to provide for the common defense by eliminating the domestic need from middle east oil by the year 2012. Let it be resolved that:

*Domestic drilling, including offshore sites within United States territorial waters) shall be authorized immediately for all areas currently leased for the purpose. The congress shall strive to grant additional drilling rights to interested parties that conform to the "clean practices" standards, to be agreed upon by a bipartisan commission to be established.
*All proposals for alternative domestic energy solutions that conform to the clean practices standards shall be deliberated by this full legislative body, with the stated goal to fund these initiatives by no more than 5% per annum of Federal revenue.
*The Congress is hereby directed to form a bipartisan commission on domestic commodity speculation, with it's proposed remedies to be deliberated upon by the assembly not later than June, 2009.
*The Congress hereby resolves to reimburse all owners of vehicles with a combined EPA rating of 38 or more MPG for gas pump taxes not to exceed the Federal tax levied on 300 gallons of gasoline per annum per vehicle or licensed dependant, whichever is lower.
* The Congress hereby resolves to institute a 'preferred provider' directive; instituting a tariff upon all domestic purchases of Middle Eastern oil at $10 per barrel for FY 2009, increasing by $10 per barrel annually. Furthermore, the proceeds from this shall be distributed to the States by population for the purpose of research and development of alternative energy solutions that reduce America's dependance upon foreign oil in general, and Middle Eastern oil in particular.

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"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain"- Iowa state motto
-Squidward
Ventura/ Paul '12

-Retro Fit

We will consider changes to this as it moves along, but each proposed amendment must be agreed to by at least one Republican and one Democrat. All proposals must further pass a supermajority for incorporation.

Let's see what we can agree on rather than what we disagree on.

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"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain"- Iowa state motto
-Squidward
Ventura/ Paul '12

-Retro Fit

I am a Conservative, does my vote count? Do I have to join a group of criminals to be heard?

I don't like the tariff, that just ends up being a tax on US citizens.

I would like to start with drilling anywhere there might be oil. During the time we are producing as much oil domestically as possible, we should be developing alternate energy sources which would include improvements to wind, solar, water and funding new ideas.

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Liberals believe it is okay to kill babies, but not terrorists.

MT,
Bite the bullet. Let's say you're a Republican congresscritter for the purposes of this exercise.
Guaranteed that there's something in here for everybody to disagree with. That's kinda the point. The question is can you live with it?
That's what we're trying to do, with the additional consideration that the programs you seek to fund need to be paid for somehow. The tariff is self-cancelling once we have weaned ourselves off middle eastern oil.
Also a nod to the Democrats' concerns as best I understand 'em. You don't put forth everything you want without any compromise and call that "bipartisan". And even thinking that way is counterproductive in the face of the fact that the Democrats control congress.

So vote as you see best. Your choice is on public record.

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"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain"- Iowa state motto
-Squidward
Ventura/ Paul '12

-Retro Fit

I would like to propose an amendment to the legislation to mandate the maintenance of environmental cleanup funds by the domestic drilling companies to ensure they can repair any environmental damage they may cause. Can I get a Dem to co-sponsor this with me?

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"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain"- Iowa state motto
-Squidward
Ventura/ Paul '12

-Retro Fit

What is this imagined threat from trade? Buying oil from other countries is not a weakness, it is only to our benefit to do so because we get that energy for a lower price. There is no threat from doing this, because the countries that we trade with are also benefiting from this exchange and to pose a security risk they would have to completely cut that benefit off. Not only that, but all of the countries in the world, all of them, would have to come together and refuse to sell us oil thereby losing trillions of dollars themselves. And even if they did do so, the opportunity for one of the countries to sell us oil would be so great that they would eventually start selling us oil again, just like the OPEC countries that agreed to hold down supply to get a greater profit eventually started secretly increasing the supply above what OPEC required.

If forced to pick between Democrat and Republican, I would be Republican, and I must say nay. Shooting ourselves in the foot when we see an imaginary threat is not a good idea.

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::Raising hand::

I refuse to vote, unless we can create an amendment, granting $800MM to the little-known "Butterfly House" in St. Louis, MO.

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Barack Obama: Putting the "Rx" in "MaRXism."

WF,
The idea was to divest us geopolitically from that region while helping us become more self-sufficient. Sorry we couldn't get you on board.

Birdzeye,
I'll let a few more lefties weigh in before putting the amendment up for passage. Anything else you'd like to see in there?

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"Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain"- Iowa state motto
-Squidward
Ventura/ Paul '12

-Retro Fit

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_b...dependence.cfm

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/p...nt/import.html
CANADA 1,840 1,952 1,889 1,858 1,876
SAUDI ARABIA 1,579 1,453 1,531 1,574 1,389
MEXICO 1,116 1,259 1,207 1,461 1,467
VENEZUELA 1,030 1,019 998 1,232 1,103
NIGERIA 851 1,115 1,053 882 1,048
IRAQ 583 679 670 341 456
ANGOLA 464 579 468 680 581
ALGERIA 440 393 329 496 492
BRAZIL 318 201 209 152 165
KUWAIT 263 176 227 162 179
COLOMBIA 245 149 184 104 101
ECUADOR 162 160 194 201 200
RUSSIA 119 106 86 232 156
LIBYA 96 85 73 33 51
EQUATORIAL GUINEA 93 40 58 0 52

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