I thought there would be a little interest in the event.  But I was wrong. There was A LOT of interest.  People lined up for over a mile. The local police force even had to help direct traffic. And I got to pump gas for about fifty cars.  To watch coverage of the event, click here.

As exciting as it was to help so many people, it was sobering to hear how much of a burden high gas prices had become for so many of them. Folks are hurting. They deserve better than they're getting from Washington.

Over the past seven years, my opponent had the opportunity to address this growing crisis, but time after time, he refused. Whether it was voting to give billions in tax breaks to the big oil companies in 2005 [HR 6, House Vote 445, 7/28/05] or voting twice against giving the government power to investigate whether consumers are being price gouged at the pump [HR 3402, House Vote 500, 9/28/05; HR 3893, House Vote 518, 10/7/05], he has consistently sided with the Bush administration and big oil companies over our consumers.  His support for the Iraq War, which has destabilized the Middle East, hasn't done much for our gas prices either.

I believe it's time for a new direction on energy policy. In the short run, I see three steps:

• Encouraging Conservation. Using public transportation, for example, not only saves money but is also better for the environment. This is the single best way to avoid the effects of soaring gas prices.

• Putting more oil on the market. Diverting oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will help accomplish that. The Reserve is our "rainy day" fund for oil and it is already more than 97% full.  Putting that oil on the market will knock off as much as a quarter a gallon.

• Investigating price-gouging charges. Even as consumers have faced record gas prices, the profits of the top five oil companies have hit record levels. While I have no problem with companies making a profit, we should give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to investigate whether the big oil companies are engaging in price gouging. 
  

Dan Seals Dan Seals for Congress