FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday 8/11/08

CONTACT:
Matthew Robinson
617-314-6971
matt@JohnCunningham2008.com

John Cunningham Says Stop the “Markey Markup”

Congressional candidate John Cunningham begins canvassing effort to inform voters of Congressman Ed Markey’s record of contributing to our energy problems. He says it is time to end the “Markey Markup” of gas and energy prices.

Revere, MA―John Cunningham, Republican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives from the Massachusetts 7th congressional district, held a canvassing kickoff event in Revere on Saturday to launch his grassroots insurgent campaign against 32-year Democratic incumbent Ed Markey. The canvassing will continue through November and is focusing on Ed Markey’s role in America’s energy crisis.

“Markey doesn’t seem to understand the impact of high gas prices,” John told his campaign volunteers. “His actions over the past three decades created the current energy crisis, and his recent activity will only make it worse.”

“America sits on vast energy resources,” John explained, “but Markey has fought against developing them. He’s blocked drilling for oil on American soil, mining oil shale on federal lands, and he’s fought against building new refineries and nuclear power plants.”

“As a consequence,” John continued, “we are now spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year on foreign oil, weakening the dollar and making us vulnerable to disruptions in the supply.”

“To make matters worse he recently introduced legislation to further increase the cost of energy. I call it the ‘Markey Markup’ of gas and energy prices,” John quipped.

“When Ed Markey sees the problems of global warming and dependence on foreign oil, he decides that the solution must be higher taxes and more government programs,” John asserted. “I take the opposite approach–we can solve those same problems through lower taxes and less government.”

“We should work toward energy independence by getting the government out of the way of producing energy on American soil, which has the side-advantage of creating jobs here in America,” he explained.

“We should encourage investment in renewable energy through tax breaks,” he continued. “The government should immediately eliminate all taxes on production, distribution, and sale of energy from renewable sources.”

“These two actions taken together would result in an immediate and dramatic reduction in the price of gasoline,” John predicted. “I call that the ‘Cunningham Cut.’”

In June of this year Congressman Markey introduced legislation called iCAP which would increase taxes on production of energy from fossil fuels and create dozens of new energy-related government programs– everything from more research into biofuels to “climate change education.”

No new nuclear plants or oil refineries have been built in the United States since Ed Markey took office in 1976.

A comparison of the “Markey Markup” and the “Cunningham Cut”:

The Markey Markup:
· Opposes offshore drilling
· Supports excessive regulations on refineries
· Votes against cheap and clean nuclear power
· Introduced iCAP bill to place a huge new tax on all fossil fuels

The Cunningham Cut:
· Supports lifting bans on offshore drilling
· Supports repeal of excessive regulations on refineries
· Supports repeal of excessive restrictions on nuclear power
· Opposes iCAP and other “carbon taxes”

For more information go to www.JohnCunningham2008.com