John Salazar on Budget & Economy Democratic Representative (CO-3)

Voted YES on defining "energy emergency" on federal gas prices.

• Makes it unlawful, during a period proclaimed by the President as an energy emergency, to sell gasoline at a price that:
  1. is unconscionably excessive; or
  2. indicates the seller is taking unfair advantag are fair and justified. A vote against my bill is a vote against consumers and a vote for Big Oil. Opponents argument for voting NAY:Rep. BARTON of Texas: [My first issue the bill is that by the bill's own definition], we don't have price g Reference: Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act; Bill H R 6346 ; vote number 2008-448 on Jun 24, 2008

     Voted YES on revitalizing severely distressed public housing.

     CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2008:
  3. Makes promoting housing choice among low-income families one of the purposes of the HOPE VI grant program for revitalization of severely distressed public housing.
  4. Prohibits the award of demolition-only grants
  5. Specifies requirements for revitalization plans including:
     1. involvement of public housing residents;
     2. a program for relocation;
     3. one-for-one replacement of demolished dwelling units; and
     4. green developments.

SUPPORTER'S ARGUMENT FOR VOTING YES:Rep. WATERS: This bill preserves public housing. The administration eliminated the one-for-one replacement requirement in 1996, effectively triggering a national sloughing off of our Nation's public housing inventory. Housing authorities have consistently built back fewer units than they have torn down and, as a result, over 30,000 units have been lost. I urge you to support our Nation's low-income families and to preserve our housing stock.

OPPONENT'S ARGUMENT FOR VOTING NO:Rep. HENSARLING: President Reagan once said that the nearest thing to eternal life on Earth is a Federal program, and I don't think there is any better case study than perhaps the HOPE VI program. If there was ever a program that cried out for termination, it's this one.

This program began in 1992 with a very noble purpose of taking 86,000 units of severely distressed public housing and replacing them, demolishing them. Well, it achieved its mission. But somewhere along the line we had this thing in Washington known as mission creep.

We already have 80-plus Federal housing programs, and the budget for Federal housing programs has almost doubled in the last 10 years, from $15.4 billion to more than $30 billion now. So it's very hard to argue that somehow Federal housing programs have been shortchanged.

LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME:Bill passed House, 271-130

Retire half the public debt by 2006.

Blue Dog budget framework
• Set tax and spending priorities within a five year budget framework instead of using ten-year budget projections to allow for backloaded tax cuts or spending increases
• Require all tax or spending initiatives to be fully implemented within the five year budget window
• Retire over half of the publicly held debt by 2006
• Devote one-quarter of the [non-Social Security] surplus to tax cuts retroactive to 2001, for a net tax cut of $180 billion from 2001-2006
• Establish realistic discretionary spending caps which will restrain spending but also provide room to fund new initiatives without relying on unspecified or unrealistic spending.