Letter #140... Dear Mr. President... Another Machiavellian Plot by the GOP

Dear Mr. President,

Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts

I just listened to a December 2, 2011 tape of Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts questioning the CEO of Keystone pipeline owner TransCanada, about keeping the oil from the tar sands in the U.S. After several attempts by Rep. Markey to pin down this question, the CEO said, “he could not guarantee that the fuel from the pipeline would stay in the U.S.”

As we see the price of gas creep ever closer to the $5 mark, it has become quite apparent that this is the next battle the GOP will use to try to derail your re-election. If the price of gas keeps going up it will be the beginning of another downturn in the economy. Without affordable gas, people will travel less, the cost of food will rise, the cost of airfares will increase, people will not be supporting hotels and restaurants, and as a result there will be more layoffs, more people applying for unemployment, and more people losing their homes again, etc… etc… We can’t let this happen again.

As you know, three Republican Senators… David Vitter, John Hoeven, and Richard Lugar introduced the Strategic Petroleum Supplies Act, S.2100 – that would prevent you from selling oil from the SPR unless the Keystone pipeline is approved. You simply can’t let them get away with this horrific attempt to hold our oil hostage for their own selfish, transparent gains and that of the big oil companies that already realized record profits again last year.

Both President’s Bush used the sale of SPR to insure that there would not be a disruption in our oil supply before the first Iraq war and after Hurricane Katrina. In fact, David Vitter praised you for selling SPR oil to offset the disruption of Libyan oil.

Don’t let them get away with this Mr. President… the sale of our SPR lowered gas prices and prevented economic devastation by protecting ordinary Americans from huge price spikes. S.2100 would prohibit such sales and effectively eliminate this protection and your ability to use it as such.

Protect Gasoline Prices

Holding the SPR hostage is going to be the end run the Republicans are counting on to stop you from being re-elected… They are losing the battle on jobs and the economy, since it is obvious that the economy and the job market are indeed improving. And the newest ridiculous attempt to paint you in a corner regarding contraception protection for women as an assault on Religious rights is ludicrous.

You need to let the American people know what’s going on with the Keystone pipeline, the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, and the ever-increasing price of gasoline. You need to call out Senators Vitter, Hoeven and Lugar for their horrendous attempt to manipulate the price of gas for their own political gains and that of the GOP, and praise Rep. Ed Markey for seeing through this Machiavellian plan.

Most Respectfully,

Marcia Reimers

Your Gadfly Granny