Gordon Smith Flip-Flop Alert: Gas Prices

Oregon's Gas Prices 7th Highest in the Nation, Families Feeling Squeezed

Jeff Merkley's campaign for U.S. Senate is issuing a Gordon Smith Flip Flop Alert on gas prices, warning Oregonians that Smith may switch his position on tax giveaways to big oil and a windfall profits tax on oil companies. Smith will likely adopt Merkley's plans to end bailouts for big oil and provide relief to families when the Senate considers energy legislation today.

While Smith votes with George Bush 90 percent of the time, Smith switches his positions on important issues in an election year to pretend he is moderate, independent, and bipartisan.

The average price of regular unleaded gas reached $4.18 per gallon in Oregon, the 7th highest in the nation according to AAA.

Smith has voted to give at least $18 billion in tax breaks to oil companies. [Senate vote #69, 4/2/98; Senate vote #289, 9/23/99; Senate vote #456, 11/21/03; Senate vote #67, 4/7/04; Senate vote #332, 11/17/05; Senate vote #222,6/21/07]

Smith has also voted twice against a windfall profits tax on the biggest oil companies. In 2005 Smith voted against two proposals to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies who were seeing record profits and use the funds to provide income tax rebates to consumers. [Vote 331, 11/17/05; Vote 341, 11/17/05; Houston Chronicle, 11/17/05; Las Vegas Review-Journal, 11/18/05; Environment and Energy Daily, 11/18/05]

Smith also voted in 2003 to kill a plan to close the "Enron loophole" and allow greater regulation of energy markets. The plan would have allowed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate energy commodities and subject electronic transactions to broad disclosure and transparency requirements. [Senate vote #218, 6/11/03]

Today the Senate is scheduled to consider the Consumer-First Energy Act (S. 3044), which will:

• Roll back Cheney tax breaks for oil companies and invest in renewable energy.

• Impose a windfall profits tax on the biggest oil companies that have made over $500 billion in profits during the Bush Administration. The new revenue would be used to create an Energy Independence Trust Fund to help consumers meet high energy costs, support clean energy technologies, and improve energy efficiency. This could come in the form of rebates.

• Stop Wall Street speculation by preventing U.S. contracts to be traded on foreign exchanges and closing the "Enron Loophole," which allows energy commodities to be traded on markets exempt from any federal, state, or local oversight. The Farm Bill included language that was intended to close the Enron Loophole, but the CFTC has said that it will not treat crude oil contracts as covered by the amendment.

Posted June 10, 2008
Press