I think Markey is vulnerable this year.

I'm referring, of course, to my opponent, Ed Markey. He’s been in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1976 – so if you like the way the country’s been run for the past 32 years, he’s your man.

This race is just Markey versus me. I have no opponent in the primary, there are no third-party candidates or independents to split the anti-Markey vote - and I've discovered that lots of people hate Markey.

I’ve been out talking to the voters. I’ve asked hundreds of people what the most important issue is in the election, and the most frequent answer is the high price of gasoline. The other frequent answer is the economy, which is essentially the same thing. No other answers come anywhere close.

Ed Markey is on the Energy Committee, and he's the Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and in those roles he has contributed much to the current energy crisis.

To make matters worse, he recently introduced new legislation called iCAP. It stands for, “Investing in Climate Action and Protection,” but I call it, “I Can’t Afford Power.”

It’s a massive tax on fossil fuels, coupled with a whole alphabet soup of new government programs, everything from more research into biofuels to “climate change education.” Some economists say if iCAP passes, the prices of gasoline could go to $8 or $9. I call that the “Markey Markup”. It prompted one of my campaign workers to write:

    Gas at four dollars, going to nine...
    Markey don’t care, says that’s just fine!

When voters see Markey’s name on the ballot, I want them to instantly think, voting for Ed Markey is voting for high gas prices. We’ve got to stop the “Markey Markup”.

Now, I'll agree there is an energy problem. I just don't think the solution is higher gas prices and more government.

We’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars overseas for energy, and foreigners are using those dollars to buy America one chunk at a time. Eventually, they'll own the entire country, and we'll all be renting from the Chinese.

There are also national security concerns. If you want to really hurt America, you don’t fly planes into our buildings. You start sinking supertankers in places where they will block other supertankers from offloading oil, and our economy would collapse overnight.

And how ridiculous this is! America sits on vast reserves of energy, enough to last hundreds of years.

Not to mention renewable energy sources. Rather than increasing taxes on fossil fuels, let's eliminate all taxes on production, distribution, and sale of energy from renewable sources, and on the manufacture and sale of solar panels and wind turbines. To make up the loss in tax revenue, let's get rid of a whole alphabet soup of unnecessary government programs.

So when the voters go into the booth this year, they face a clear choice — either the "Markey Markup" of higher taxes and more govermnemt, or the "Cunningham Cut" of lower taxes and less government.