Rep. Putnam (R,FL) Responds

To my last post:

Dear Mr. S:

Thank you for your recent correspondence in opposition to the Putnam-Capps amendment to restore the Congressional moratorium on natural gas drilling off the coast of Florida. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

For the past several months, my colleagues in the Florida delegation and I have been working with the Resources Committee to devise a compromise plan that allows for responsible natural gas exploration in which the coastal States have a voice. The Interior Appropriations bill under consideration, however, would have allowed for drilling as close as three miles off the Atlantic Coast and 9 miles off the Gulf Coast, regardless of the laws of the states involved. By a vote of 217 to 203, the House voted to adopt my amendment and strip this provision from the bill.

 Congress should – and it will – consider all options to increase our nation’s energy supply. Those options will include discussions of drilling off the Outer Continental Shelf, and I will continue to work with Chairman Pombo of the Resources Committee to produce a reasonable, workable compromise.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your views. If you are interested in legislation that is pending before Congress, are experiencing difficulties with federal programs or simply wish to express your views, please visit my website at www.adamputnam.house.gov.

May God continue to bless America. Sincerely, Adam Putnam Member of Congress

Well that's great and all. The laws of the states should be respected. However, my sense is that so far, we're maintaining instead of decreasing restrictions. I dunno.

In the original article there was a quote which essentially said that starting drilling now wouldn't have an impact on current prices. I beg to differ with a caveat. Given that oil and gas are commodities, the prices that you see today were set about two months ago. If we could start drilling tomorrow, there would be a difference in the price 2 months from then and new drilling would cause the price to go down, barring any major problems. Maybe not a whole hell of a lot, but the market would respond to it.

On “Immigration”.

Is anybody else tired of these Republicans fighting each other to look like a bigger liberal douchebag than Kennedy, Reid, Pelosi etc.?

To be honest, I'm sorry to say that Sen. Mel Martinez represents me. I had high hopes for Rep. Adam Putnam too until I saw that he led a Florida "delegation" to keep oil & gas prices high.

<sigh> What's a Conservative to do when their representatives are beating each other up to see who can be the most liberal.

Then again, the liberals have nothing to offer except hate. They egotistically (sp) are declaring themselves the victors of 2006 & 2008, so they don't stand a snowball's chance in hell unless they get enough illegals, felons and dead folks to vote for 'em.

Happy Thoughts! Happy Thoughts! Happy Thoughts!

Ooops!

Homeland Security Official Arrested in Polk Case

By Gabrielle Finley

The Ledger

LAKELAND (Where I live)

— A deputy press secretary with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday night and charged with trying to “seduce'' a 14-year-old Polk County girl with graphic talk over the Internet. The “girl'' with whom Brian J. Doyle, 55, was corresponding was actually an undercover Polk County Sheriff's detective, the Sheriff's Office reported.

Doyle was arrested at his Silver Spring, Md., home at about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday on a total of 23 Polk County charges of using his computer to seduce a child and transmitting harmful materials to a minor, according to a Sheriff's Office release.

Doyle was chatting with the fictional girl online when police officers and secret service agents knocked on his door to arrest him, said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a late Tuesday night news conference.

They seized his home computer and other materials, Judd said.