Meanwhile House Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, apparently is making headway in his effort to persuade lawmakers to take their names off a letter aimed at pursuading House Speaker Dennis Hastert to oppose the gas tax hike.
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., organized a Wednesday meeting outside the Cannon House office building to discuss the letter she and “nearly 30 members of Congress” are sending to Speaker Hastert urging that he side with America’s families when they stop at the pump to “fill’er up.” Musgrave’s slogan is “America’s Tax Burden: Lift it, Don’t Shift it.”
The following 16 (and counting) organizations have formed a broad coalition opposing an increase in the gas tax:
Americans for Tax Reform; 60 Plus Association; Citizens Against Government Waste; American Conservative Union; Tradition Family, and Property, Inc.; American Renewal; Family Research Council; American Shareholder Association; African American Republican leadership Council; National Taxpayers Union; United Seniors Association; American Enterprise Institute; CNP Action, Inc.; Indian American Republican Council; Eagle Forum; Citizens for a Sound Economy.
These are issue-oriented groups with long memories. Many of them are taking names so they know which lawmakers are the friends of American families, and also which ones want to add to the tax burden that families must bear. Many of their members throughout the nation have been available in the past, as individuals, to do essential grass roots work for the Republican Party and/or its candidates.
If the GOP socks them with an additional gas tax burden, they just might decide to sit on their hands during the next election campaign.
As NewsMax.com has reported, the Bush administration opposes raising the gas tax, as does the number two House official - Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
The Musgrave letter aims to influence the number one leader, Speaker Hastert, who has a near life-and-death influence on legislation.
However, Chairman Young has “had words” with Congresswoman Musgrave, accordinng to witnesses speaking to NewsMax.com on condition of anonymity.
When the Colorado lawmaker greeted the chairman during a House floor vote, he refused to shake her hand and - piecing this together from witness accounts - raised his voice so as to attract the attention of others, chastising the freshman congresswoman for not checking with him before circulating the letter.
When asked to comment on the latter point, Musgrave’s office told NewsMax.com that she had in fact testified on her gas tax opposition before Young’s own committee, but he chose not to be present.
Regarding the nature of the House floor confrontation, Musgrave’s Chief of Staff Guy Short would only say, “Mr. Young made his position clear, and we made our position just as clear. This has not weakened our resolve. If anything, it has strengthened it.”
In an e-mail to NewsMax.com, Young spokesman Steve Hansen said, “Chairman Young and Mrs. Musgrave did have a conversation on the floor about the highway bill and her request for numerous projects in the bill.”
Musgrave spokesman Short asked rhetorically if Young thinks “the millions of dollars” residents of the congresswoman’s Colorado district ought to be spent exclusively on road projects actually in the district, where many rural people need to do more driving than is required of city folks. Musgrave is doing the bidding of her constituents, Short said.
There were reports that Young had twisted arms of lawmakers who had signed on with Musgrave and urged them to take their names off.
Hansen, the chairman’s spokesman, told us, “There are several members who, as I understand it, are now off the letter.”
A NewsMax request for an updated copy of the letter to Hastert showed that four lawmakers who had previously signed were no longer included. They were Chris Smith, R-NJ; J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz.; Steve King, R-Iowa; and Duke Cunningham, R-Calif.
On the other hand, the lawmakers who had been scheduled to participate in Wednesday’s media event were Reps. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md.; Mike Pence, R-Ind.; Tom Feeney, R-Fla.; Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; and Joe Wilson, S.C.
This issue is not going away. Musgrave and her colleagues in effect are saying the GOP has a choice: Uphold its status as the tax-cutting party OR allow itself to be perceived as the party that will cut taxes and then find another way to pick the taxpayers’ pockets.
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