Daily Bob Graham Thread

[GBD4]

As per another thread, we are now starting Daily (fill in candidate) Threads. So here is the first Bob Graham thread. :)

Today, Senator Bob Graham will be working his 390th Workday in Iowa. Appropriately, this Workday is at an Ethanol Plant. Senator Bob Graham has proposed a substantive energy policy for his Presidency, and Ethanol is one of several alternative energy sources that he would like the federal government to invest in.

The Graham Energy Plan focuses on domestic energy programs to 1) create jobs at home 2) make us less reliable on foreign energy 3) ensure jobs are created here rather than abroad and I quote "...but will also help to create another economic explosion and thousands of new jobs and oppportunities; Jobs here in America — not in Europe or Japan, where they will be sure to go if we do not jump on the bandwagon now."

Other aspects of the Graham Energy Plan include tax incentives for purchase of fuell cell and hybrid vehicles to 1) encourage production of such vehicles 2) encourage American drivers to drive cleaner automobiles. Further, the Plan calls for increased R&D tax credits for solar home construction technologies. Also, an increase in funding for the Dept of Energy's research programs by 20% per year.

Senator Bob Graham has also outlined that he will eliminate a tax loophole that allows companies to deduct the cost of SUVs. And, he wants federal buildings to be running on solar energy oriented electrical systems within five years to cut energy costs paid for by the federal government.

All in all, the Graham Energy Plan numbers $4.5 billion per year.

Another quote:
"However, if we do not provide support and investment in this industry, much like solar, the U.S. will continue to lose out to foreign competitors potentially reversing any job growth in the U.S."

One final note on Senator Bob Graham's energy policy views. He is staunchly opposed to drilling for oil off the Florida Coast, in ANWR, and he released a statement this week about opposition to drilling in the Rockies (which I was unaware of). I posted the link when it was published, but here it is again:

http://www.grahamforpresident.com/news/0307/030731-1.html

[GBD4]

1. KICK

I thought we were doing these Candidate threads?!? We ought to have nine by this point in the day...

[seafan]

2. As per usual, ol' Bob beats everybody else to the punch!

Thanks for starting this, GBD4. A great idea.

Here's a bit from KTIV Channel 4 local news...

------

08/01/2003
Senator Graham visits Sioux City
Florida Senator Bob Graham is one candidate in a crowded field for the democratic presidential nomination, with five months left until Iowa's "first-in-the-nation" caucuses, he's rallying support in Siouxland.

In Sioux City, Friday, Graham said the economy would be one of the issues that decide the 2004 presidential race. On Saturday, Senator Graham will tour The Little Sioux Corn Processors Plant, near Marcus. He'll also take a shift working inside the plant.
------

http://www.ktiv.com/News/NewsDetail63.cfm?ID=26,6422

[lkinsale]

3. Ethanol is critical in the Iowa primary

In presidential campaign, opposing ethanol may be fatal error

Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley found that out in 2000. The former New Jersey senator was critical of tax breaks for ethanol, and heard about it in Iowa, where he was defeated handily. And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has long opposed the government's ethanol subsidies, avoided Iowa altogether during his failed 2000 run for the GOP presidential nomination.

"It certainly creates doubt among Iowans when you have a history of voting against ethanol," says Jeff Link, who headed Gore's Iowa campaign in 2000 and has managed Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin's past two Senate campaigns. "Those are the kind of doubts you don't want to have raised."

[seafan]

4. More from Bob in Sioux City:

-----

08/02/2003

Sioux City, Ia. - President Bush's taking responsibility this week for incorrect information in his State of the Union speech isn't good enough, Democratic presidential candidate Bob Graham said Friday.

"If he's as mad as he says he is, he ought to be determining who was responsible for misleading the American people," Graham said. "There should be some heads rolled. If you are outraged, you need to impose accountability."

Graham, a U.S. senator from Florida and former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, made his comments in Sioux City during the first of a three-day visit to Iowa.

---snip---

Also Friday, Graham promised that millions of dollars more would be spent in Iowa under his plan for the economy. The plan includes $160 million more each year for Iowa highways, $128 million more a year for Iowa school buildings, and $31 million more a year to expand high-speed Internet access.

In a coffee-shop meeting with four Sioux City businessmen, Graham said he would pay for his economic plan by eliminating all of Bush's tax cuts except those that go to the middle class. "By maintaining the middle-class tax cuts, such as the child tax credit, but eliminating those that go primarily to the upper 1 or 2 percent of Americans, we can both balance the budget and make a significant investment in a better American economy," Graham said.

---snip---

Graham is one of nine vying for the 2004 Democratic nomination for president. Fund-raising and polls indicate that he is in the bottom half of candidates. Graham said he plans to counter that by spending a weeklong vacation with his family in Iowa, starting Wednesday.

"Our goal is to invade, occupy and persuade as many Iowans as we can," he said.
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http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/21901731.html

[seafan]

5. More Graham news from a thread yesterday that was buried....

Bob Graham, 2 allies introduce overhaul of U.S. intelligence
(Miami Herald)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=112280

[lkinsale]

6. Who knows what you can do with ethanol besides drink it? and why care?

Ethanol-Journey to Forever

What is ethanol?

Ethanol is made by fermenting and then distilling starch and sugar crops -- maize, sorghum, potatoes, wheat, sugar-cane, even cornstalks, fruit and vegetable waste.

The benefits

Ethanol is a much cleaner fuel than petrol (gasoline):

* It is a renewable fuel made from plants
* It is not a fossil-fuel: manufacturing it and burning it does not increase the greenhouse effect
* It provides high octane at low cost as an alternative to harmful fuel additives
* Ethanol blends can be used in all petrol engines without modifications
* Ethanol is biodegradable without harmful effects on the environment
* It significantly reduces harmful exhaust emissions
* Ethanol's high oxygen content reduces carbon monoxide levels more than any other oxygenate: by 25-30%, according to the US EPA
* Ethanol blends dramatically reduce emissions of hydrocarbons, a major contributor to the depletion of the ozone layer
* High-level ethanol blends reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 20%
* Ethanol can reduce net carbon dioxide emissions by up to 100% on a full life-cycle basis
* High-level ethanol blends can reduce emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) by 30% or more (VOCs are major sources of ground-level ozone formation)
* As an octane enhancer, ethanol can cut emissions of cancer-causing benzene and butadiene by more than 50%
* Sulphur dioxide and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions are significantly decreased with ethanol.

As I mentioned in my previous post, ethanol production is a Big Deal in Iowa, where production of ethanol from corn is an industry. It's not only an important alternative biofuel, it means jobs.

In Graham's economic plan, he says:

"...there are currently 7,800 MW of biomass electricity being generated in the US, a $15 billion investment employing 66,000 people. Similarly, the Department of Agriculture estimates that every million gallons of Ethanol produced results in approximate 17,000 new jobs."