Victoria Wulsin Releases Ad On Jean Schmidt's Gas Tax
By Nicole Belle Friday Aug 29, 2008 5:15pm
Okay, none of them are going to win an Oscar, but it certainly is going to make Republicans sit up and pay attention that Mean Jean Schmidt is supporting an astounding 27% gas tax when most Americans are struggling to pay the exorbitant gas prices. From the press release:
A television ad focusing on Jean Schmidt's vote to raise the gas tax by 27% will hit the airwaves next week, according to the campaign of Dr. Victoria Wulsin. Schmidt voted to raise the Ohio gas tax by 27% when she was in Ohio's legislature. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Schmidt has often sided with big oil and gas companies against the best interests of her constituents.[..]
"Not only has Jean Schmidt's tax-and-spend voting record turned off many members of her own party, it has also hurt middle class families across the district who are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of a gallon of gas," (Wulsin Communications Director Kevin) Franck said.
Franck noted that a poll conducted by the Wulsin campaign in late June found that only half of Republicans in the second district are considering voting to re-elect Schmidt. Overall, the poll found that only 33% approve of Jean Schmidt's performance in Congress and only 36% are prepared to re-elect her.
"In Columbus, Jean Schmidt voted to raise the gas tax on Ohio families and in Washington she voted to allow big oil and gas companies to keep billions in tax breaks, all the while raking in campaign cash from the likes of ExxonMobil," Franck said. "If Jean Schmidt thinks it's ok to take money out of the pockets of middle-class families so that her friends at the oil and gas companies can add to their already record profits, her priorities are definitely out of whack."
The ad will begin to run on Labor Day, during the Republican National Convention. If you'd like to donate to Victoria Wulsin's campaign, you can do so through our Blue America page.
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Oh, snap!
R's suck.
But D's are so much better.
Obama will get us out of Iraq. Divorce the U.S. government from major corporations. Make Americans proud. Vote for Obama.
Frankly, this is not a bad ad. They could have made it slick and dramatic but the message may have been lost. This looks like a locally produced ad done by people and not "Hollywood Producers" but clearly communicating a message that most people would like to hear.
Not bad at all....
People in Ohio have been bitching for years about Schmidt, yet they elect her every time.
Not too bright!!!
It SHOULD be 50%. The only way you idiots know how to deal with things is when they clock you in the pocketbook. Will it hurt the poor? Yup. will it hurt the middle class? A bit. The rich? Hell no - nothing ever really does.
However: we're about to enter the Great Transition - where we will have to use less and less energy, including oil, and the faster we slap people around and get them to stop using the stuff, the better. Burning oil for fuel is the single STOOOPIDEST thing you can do with it. It is MUCH more value as a resource for materials (carbon fibre, plastics, etc), drugs, pesticides, etc.
So, while I think Mean Jean is a walking talking piece of crap, in my opinion, she doesn't go far enough with this.
Also, EVERY single dime I would get from the gas tax would go DIRECTLY into subsidising renewable energy systems, like solar, wind, solar thermal, geo thermal, etc.
Is that crazy beeatch still in office?
Too many empty, not counting the driver, SUV's in that ad.
There needs to be a huge increase in gas taxes.
Get people driving less (environment).
More revenue for non-motor vehicle transit (rails).
I can ride my bike more, with less rednecks yelling and throwing shit at me.
Gene Schmidt, Virgina Foxx and Marsha Blackburn - the three Congressional church lady stoogettes. A friend of mine from Ohio says no one he knows can stand Jean Schmidt and can't understand how she keeps getting elected. Hopefully this will be the old bat's last term and also the last term for Ohio's big oil republican John "free cigarettes" Boehner.
(_(_) @ 6:
Yes, and still jumping cars on a motorcycle on the way to the congressional floor apparently http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8FZ_nxmf0Y.
Funny that Mean Jean should be a topic here tonight. Today we were in the local seafood market. There was a woman in there being a total bitch. The guys who work there are great and fun to deal with, but this woman was a demanding, no one can please her, holding up everyone else, pain in the ass. When she turned around, she could have been Mean Jean's twin. She looked just like her. My husband and I had to control our laughter until we were outside.
Ruthless People @ 10:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8FZ_nxmf0Y
Gene Schmidt's gotta go ..
But the Gas Tax should have been raised dramatically 32 years ago, when Carter was in the White House.
It would have discouraged consumption and put monies in the public coffers that ultimately have gone to Big Oil anyway.
We've needed much more spending to maintain our highways, and we've needed much more spending on public mass transit. Gas Tax increases could have funded both.
Down with Jean Schmidt.
Up with the Gas Tax.
"Franck noted that a poll conducted by the Wulsin campaign in late June found that only half of Republicans in the second district are considering voting to re-elect Schmidt. Overall, the poll found that only 33% approve of Jean Schmidt’s performance in Congress and only 36% are prepared to re-elect her."
Oh please let it be true. She is coming up for re- election?
Heh, another one rides the bus.....uggghhhhhhhhh.
have great day folks.
Actually, this is the only time I've seen Jean Schmidt be responsible. I think this video clip is off the mark, and not progressive.
We need to stop relying on cheap fossil fuels. Because the Federal gas tax is so low, and is completely inadequate to fix our current transportation infrastructure, let alone repair it and transition it to a non fossil-fuel transport system, States are having to pick up the slack, which is what's happening here
In Europe they pay $8 per gallon of gas, of which $4 goes to fixing, maintaining, and improving transportation infrastructure...and yes towards clean energy to get off the fossil-fuel train-wreck. In the U.S., only 18 cents per gallon goes towards fixing, maintaining, and improving transportaiton infrastructure...which means that we really only have enough to perform triage and non for the rest.
And if you like transit...forget about it. Without the proper tax base, we can't even dream of providing decent transit service so it's affordable enough to get to work...a small part of that 18 cents goes to transit...it's worth crap in terms of what's needed.
I love Crooks and Liars, but sometimes I think we need to be smart about our attacks. It's like we're falling into a Republican tactic where it's like "ignore the big elephant in the room, shout about how much it hurts and ignore the fact that doing nothing now will hurt 40 times more in the future."
Time to rip the band-aid off instead of the slow scream towards decline in a dead-end oil future. I hope this candidate is thinking of the same, or democrats might actually be voting for someone who wants to drill, ignore the problem, and carry on as usual (nothing to see here).
Focus.
in some respects it's a good ad simple not glossy. i'm waiting for bush to officially announce he won't be at the (R) convention
MountainMan23 @ 13:
With respect, I don't live in a city with vast infrastructure. I live in a small town, and my current job is 25 miles one-way from where I live (I'm living at home again because I lost my better-paying job).
Frankly, if I didn't have my small economical car I'd be sunk. In many parts of the West, you can't get anywhere without one. Things are too spread out.
Yes, we need alternative fuels. But jacking the gas tax to astronomical heights to pay for them is a STUPID IDEA!!!
Trekkie @ 17:
It's their way of pushing for more drilling.(offshore)
Trekkie...you're hurting your own interest. We've been hoodwinked by oil companies for years to the point where now we have to pay to get out of the mess. I understand your situation (been there, do that), but the fact is we have to pay for a crumbling infrastructure, and the Federal 18 cents a gallon will not cut it.
There can be a win-win situation though...we should start pouring money into cars and transit that don't rely or rely far less on fossil fuels so that it's actually CHEAP for you to drive to work. It may hurt now, but it will hurt far less in the future if we take action.
It is not an urban vs. rural debate if we do it right.
Yes,
Don't vote for the evil fucks.
...and I'll also add, that taking away the $12 billion subsidy we give to oil companies would obviously make this a much fairer situation.
Here in NY, the gallon price of gasoline may be considered a bargain come the cold weather. More than once I have heard fairly reputable sources state that fuel oil prices will rise 30-50% this season. In my neighborhood, that would equate to $6-$7/gallon. Guess I'm going to freeze to death this winter!!
GWB has effectively cut your wages by 50 percent in 7 years, and you whine about gas prices... geez, get a bike, walk, run, rollerskate or whatever, you'll live longer.
i agree there must be a transition from fossil fuels, but it's my opinion it shouldn't be abrupt. currently with inflation here and abroad,people losing their homes,banks being seized,states not meeting their budgets....adding a tax onto gasoline right now wouldn't seem like a very good strategy. gasoline consumption has decreased to record levels already. a mccain/palin will definitely maintain the oil consumption. i think most of us agree we need to change our habits....regarding oil/gasoline but it needs to be a thoughful strategy. i realize some will say there will never be a good time i somewhat agree but right now is definitely not good.
Paul @ 19:
I know, but at is it I (and a lot of Americans) are barely treading water as it is. What you suggest would drive millions of people into bankruptcy by making it impossible to work because we can't afford the gas to get to work.
Nicole, please note that she's for raising the gas tax 27% (above current levels), not for creating a 27% gas tax, as you phrased it.
There's a significant difference in those figures.
Andy @ 23:
50 miles, round trip, in freezing winter (temperatures in winter here hover around 40 degrees during the day and teens and 20s at night) and baking summer (over 90 during the day)?
ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?
For those who want to further increase the gasoline tax; it must be nice to still live in your mother's basement. Here in the real world, some of us have to pay to get to and from work. And heat our homes.
Hey Schmidt! You should be sending us Americans a 27% cut of the obscene profits the Oil Companies are making.
Idiot
Trekkie@27
"...in freezing winter (temperatures in winter here hover around 40 degrees during the day and teens and 20s at night)..."
LUXURY!
Seriously, if you live so far away from an urban center, maybe you should be shooting all of your own food.
Wait....where do you live, more-or-less exactly? I mean, why is your town where it is, and how did your family come to be there?
[FIFY. Site Monitor]
I know this of off-topic, but NBC News just did an introspective on Palin, ending with the observation that "that beauty contest she came in second in... she lost to the first ever Afican-American." :)
Andy K Jong Il @ 30:
I live in rural Nevada, 15 miles south of the state capitol. My parents moved here 30 years ago because land was cheap.
As for the town, it's one of the few places in all of Nevada where the primary industry isn't sucking money out of tourist's pockets or pulling metal out of the ground. It was born a farming/ranching community, and it'll die one too (the ranchers have effectively killed any kind of industry innovation, including light rail connecting us to Reno by way of Carson City).
Schmidt should be working in some Republican Dominatrix joint in D.C. punishing Oil Company lobbyists after working hours instead of punishing the American public.
17 Trekkie Says: MountainMan23 @ 13:
Down with Jean Schmidt.
Up with the Gas Tax.
With respect, I don’t live in a city with vast infrastructure. I live in a small town, and my current job is 25 miles one-way from where I live (I’m living at home again because I lost my better-paying job).
Frankly, if I didn’t have my small economical car I’d be sunk. In many parts of the West, you can’t get anywhere without one. Things are too spread out.
Yes, we need alternative fuels. But jacking the gas tax to astronomical heights to pay for them is a STUPID IDEA!!!
==========
I live in the middle of a vast forest (approx 150 square miles of mostly undeveloped woodlands) more than 16 miles from the nearest town .. with no car.
I pay other people (who own way too many cars) to do my shopping and give me a ride to town when I need it.
Have you considered carpooling?
I really can't wait for Mean Jean to go down in flames. This woman has no warmth or character. She is just like the rest of the Repugs. Cold and judgemental. If not criminal.
I think the ad is stupid and an insult to voter intelligence. A 27% tax increase sounds like a lot, but it's only like increasing the gas tax from 11 cents/gallon to 14 cents/gallon, which is just a dinky amount of the total amount paid per gallon. And, like others have said, gas taxes should be higher, to discourage consumption. Schmidt has said and done a lot of stupid things, but this doesn't look like one of them.
CNN.com poll (front page right side):
Quick Vote
Who is the stronger VP choice?
Joe Biden
Sarah Palin
Apologies if this has already been done.
MountainMan23 @ 34:
I'm the only one at my current job that doesn't live in and around the area where it's located. And because I'm a temp, my schedule fluctuates wildly from day-to-day and week-to-week.
Trekkie@32
I thought you might type something like that. I have a friend who grew up in a small Nevada town, much further from civilization than you. Her mom worked in a...well, the fact that I'm not going to tell you what mom did should tell you exactly what mom did.
To the point, there's a reason land there was/is cheap: not many people want to live there. Probably not much vegetation or water. Probably no chance it will ever grow. Town probably sprang up during the mining boom, but when the mines became unproductive, the town died. I'm sorry that you're in the position you're in, because it's not your fault that the parents decided to move there when gas was cheaper, but, man, you gotta get out! Might be a struggle, but you can't compound someone else's mistakes by making mistakes of your own.
BTW, 25 miles round-trip in 40 degree weather looks good to those of us who have done 5 mile round-trips in 5 degree weather. 40 degrees in February is suntan weather here in Michigan!
If y'all want to go to a neutral area and kick some Thug butt, go here, register, comment, and vote:
Start on page 1 and work your way through. If you want to get really fired up, go here:
That last post didn't work at all.
Go here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/mccain-walking-tightrope-republican-meeting/story.aspx?guid=%7B7EE9A5E8%2D9D4C%2D49DD%2DBA62%2D875E6F0FAF6B%7D
Schmidt should be working in some Republican Dominatrix joint in D.C. punishing Oil Company lobbyists after working hours instead of punishing the American public.
She's 50 years past her prime, if she ever had one. Thanks for the visual at suppertime yet. LOL
Andy K Jong Il @ 39:
You don't think I've tried? I've been out of work for A YEAR, working temp jobs just to pay the bills because no one in state is hiring, and I can't afford to move where the jobs are. My parents took me in because they could, and they're feeling the pinch because of it.
I've struggled. I'm still struggling - I'm about two steps away from financial insolvency because I have caught nothing but bad break after bad break since I was 20.
So don't presume to lecture me that I'm "making mistakes of my own" - I'm doing what I have to do to keep myself alive.
Trekkie@43
So don’t presume to lecture me that I’m “making mistakes of my own” - I’m doing what I have to do to keep myself alive.
Sorry, thoughtlessly shitty of me. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Maybe there's a wind farm or solar panel array coming to your neck of the woods soon. There'd be some jobs in that, I'll bet.
abarts @ 28:
Here in the real world, oil and natural gas are finite resources.
Carol @ 4:
Not so,Buffy.Schmidt has won two elections over Wulsin in the 2nd most Rethug district in the U.S.The first time she won by 4% and lh last by less than 2%.She beat Paul Hackett by 4% in a mid-term election when Rob Portman went to Washington to be Budget Director.
I`ve lived here all my life and it has been a Rethug stronghold.
Schmidt is going down this time.Her lies will not save her.
Tweakerbell is dead on the money. The gas tax should be raised to European levels or higher, and the money should go into subsidizing renewables. Tweak is also correct in that Americans, including the educated, are too freaking stupid to do ANYTHING until it hits their bank account. So, hell yeah - raise the damn tax. Raise it a lot! And use it for something worthwhile.
Trekkie @ 43:
Trekkie, maybe you can help me with this one. Is this a Romulan uniform Jean Schmidt is wearing? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-7JN7z2cUg
Jean Schmidt last seen in Kansas peddling a bike frantically with a little girl's little dog in a wicker basket.
Wait, when a GOP declares that he wants to end the gas tax everybody complains and moans that its fiscally irresponsible because its really not that much money compared to the increase in gas prices...but when ANOTHER GOP declares that she wants to increase the gas tax by 27% everybody complains and moans that its fiscally irresponsible because it will break families?
Ive been following the stories on this site for some time and im a volz and contributor for the obama campaign...but you cant have it both ways.
David Hill @ 50:
Sure you can, you can have it both ways. McCain proved by railing against the "agents of intolerance" and then picking one as a running mate.
simple people get seduced by simple slogans
it baffles me that simple people can't connect the dots that there are two oilmen in the Whitehouse now.
And if baffles me that simple people can't connect the dots that McCain just picked a VP candidate who is married to an oilman
baffle tastic, jesus, simple people
afterburner @ 47:
Agreed,and let`s not forget the benifits of cannabis for fuel,clothing, medical, and a variety of otheruses.Let`s get these damn Puritans out of our government, and get some people with some ideas.
fil @ 52:
Seriously. If there were 2 big tobacco men in the White House and the price of cigarettes tripled in eight years wouldn't most folks be able to put 2 and 2 together?
45 Slaw Says: abarts @ 28:
For those who want to further increase the gasoline tax; it must be nice to still live in your mother’s basement. Here in the real world, some of us have to pay to get to and from work. And heat our homes.
Here in the real world, oil and natural gas are finite resources.
Quote This Comment August 30th, 2008 at 5:01 PM - PDT
And raising the price somehow changes the status of those resources?
I'll I can do is hope for vicotry by Victoria over mean Jean Schmidt.
Ruthless People @ 48:
Hmm...looks more like some sort of really ugly Ferengi outfit to me.
David Hill @ 50:
It's fiscally irresponsible in diametrically different ways - ending the gas tax may lower the price of gas (assuming that the oil companies simply don't pocket that money), but the amount it lowers it would be negligible. Remember that the average savings for a family under McCain's proposed "gas tax holiday" was around $30.
But significantly raising the gas tax is also fiscally irresponsible by pushing straining family budgets, some even to the breaking point.
How many of you people know someone who'll get in their car, and drive an eighth of a mile, to buy a soda?
At four dollars a gallon, people are STILL doing that.
What's it going to take to get people to stop wasting fuel? I mean, because appealing to the intellect of the people certainly isn't working.
How do you propose that we PAY for any of the wonderful programs that daddy government will come up with, once Barack Obama becomes President?
And more to the point, how does the government come up with THREE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS that they're going to HAVE TO come up with over the next year, to back up FDIC deposits, without over-printing monopoly money, and devaluing our currency?
If we keep BORROWING and spending, instead of TAXING and spending, we are going to collapse the economy.
You can't have your cake and eat it too.
If you want government programs, you have to pay for them somehow...
Sorry, folks, but much as I hate to agree with Schmidt, a stiff gas hike is probably pretty good policy. Inasmuch as two of our biggest problems are global warming and the politics of Middle Eastern oil, we have to use less gasoline. Period. We've seen that small rises in gasoline prices do little to wean us from SUVs and even cars, but the sudden jump from $2.50 to $4.00 pushed a lot of people out of their cars. So, we should keep the price high, and give direct help to the people for whom this is a true catastrophe.
I'd advocate a tax that capped itself so the actual pump price didn't exceed some certain figure (indexed for inflation), maybe $3.50, but that's only a compromise away.
I almost can't believe that so many progressives fail to see this point. How many of you will keep your SUVs until your cold, dead body is pried out?
I don't know why McCain didn't pick Jean for VP, she's absolutely scrumptious in her red, white and blue trainwreck victim dress and she's got such a lovely and personable demeanor! Smile for the camera Jeanie, smile!
I guess Linda Carter on the ticket trumps Margaret Hamilton, oh well.. Sorry Jeanie, you've got all the right moves but..
I don't know how many of you guys have done your research about this Congressional race, but there's a BETTER choice. David Krikorian is an economist and businessman running as an Independent. He's completely legitimate and has a platform a lot more in line with what most people in the district believe. The reason Wulsin didn't win last time was because she is too liberal for this district. She came very close which is a testament to how bad Schmidt is, but this district isn't going to elect her. This video is pandering to voters about the reason for high gas prices. It has very little to do with the gas tax or oil company profits. Gas prices are high because Congress can't control their spending, which has made our dollar worthless. We've got to elect someone who will address the REAL causes of high gas prices, or things are just going to get worse.
David Krikorian describes himself in the Imperial third person? Anyway, I'll just say that the best thing for Jean Schmidt would be to have two opponents running against her. That's what allowed the idiot in Colorado 04 to escape in 2006 with her homophobic "family values" skin intact.
#9 - You need to add Minnesota's Michele Bachman to your Evangelical wackoettes list....
it's a quartet, for starters ('cause there's a couple others out there in the female GOP House caucus) - but for the two ultra-idiots, it's Bachman and Blackburn, hands down.
There is so much to dislike Schmidt for, although gas taxes usually go to pay for roads which kind of helps drivers. This gas tax vote could be one of the few things she did RIGHT, as long as she was honest about it (I know, I laughed at that too).
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