[StBernard] E Update 03 21 11 What a Difference a Year Makes

[Westley Annis]

e-update
3.21.11 

	

What a difference a year makes.  One year ago this week, President Obama
signed Obamacare into law, but the effort to repeal it is now stronger than
ever.  And a year ago this week, the cost of gasoline was around $2.82 per
gallon.  Now, we're fighting to put the brakes on $4 per gallon gas. 

	

Many things can change over the course of a year, but rest assured that I'm
continuing to lead the fight against Obamacare and rising gas prices while
fighting to protect our country from two other very serious threats that we
face year in and year out: reckless levels of federal spending and
terrorists who want to harm us.  Read below to find out how I'm fighting for
you on these and other critical issues. 

 David Vitter

P.S. - Please feel free to forward the newsletter to your friends, neighbors
and business associates, and encourage them to sign up for their own copy by
visiting my Web site at http://vitter.senate.gov/. 

OBAMACARE: ONE YEAR LATER 

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the passage of Obamacare. And
what a year it has been: Louisianians, and voters across America,
overwhelmingly rejected the tactics that the president's liberal allies in
Congress used to force that bill on us and demanded that we repeal it.  It's
become increasingly clear that the legislation is as bad as we thought it
was - from the thousands of "waivers" issued by the administration to
companies that can't meet the requirements of the law, to the burdensome
1099 tax provision that buries small businesses under a mountain of
paperwork. 

The momentum is on our side as we continue the fight to repeal this terrible
law. One year later, it's even more clear that Obamacare is a bad deal for
America.  That's why I've introduced a bill
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=bdc71872-d760-2a81-5ac9-869e3cf82f2b&Region_id=&Issue_id=

>  in the Senate to repeal it outright, and that's why I'll continue the

fight each day. 

PUTTING THE BRAKES ON $4 GAS AT THE PUMP 

(click here <http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=42365>  to read a
recent op-ed I wrote on this issue) 

The gap continues to widen between what President Obama claims to be true
about domestic energy production and what Louisianians know is true. With
prices at the pump climbing toward $4.00 per gallon, the president is asking
us to believe that his administration supports expanded drilling off the
Gulf Coast.  Those of us who live here know that nothing could be further
from the truth. 

The Interior Department's de facto moratorium has destroyed jobs in
Louisiana, contributed to the bankruptcy of at least one major employer,
forced layoffs at others, and could force everyone to have to pay for $4.00
per gallon gasoline.  The damage is devastating.  And yet the President
continues to mislead the public in order to pursue a political agenda. 

Allowing us to produce domestic energy is essential. It's essential in the
fight against $4.00 gas, to reduce our dependency on bad actors like Muammar
Gaddafi in Libya, and to unshackle our domestic energy-producing economy,
specifically in the Gulf of Mexico. None of us want to see $4.00 a gallon
gasoline again. None of us want to rely on the Middle East for our energy
supply. All of us want to see our economy growing again. One simple solution
starts in Louisiana, just off our coast. 

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT CUTTING SPENDING 

I recently led nine of my Senate colleagues in sending a letter
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=a13f11c0-ff1d-b4ab-cd66-0109e0f42991&Region_id=&Issue_id=

>  to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid disapproving of his tactic to limit

debate on proposals to cut the clearly unsustainable levels of federal
government spending. In addition, we made it clear that we'll object to the
consideration of any legislation that fails to directly address meaningful
spending cuts.

We made it clear to Sen. Reid that we'll object to any legislation that
fails to directly address meaningful spending cuts, reducing debt and
reducing the size of government.  If he agrees to dedicate significant
Senate floor time to debate spending and debt well in advance of the federal
government reaching our statutorily-mandated debt limit, then we'll withhold
our objection.

The American people resoundingly rejected the way the Senate waited until
Christmas Eve as a mechanism to force hurried debate on President Obama's
massive health care legislation. Voting to proceed to another legislative
measure effectively runs away from the central issues of spending and debt
and repeats that flawed process. We simply can't afford to do that. 

GUANTANAMO TERRRORISTS SHOULDN'T BE TRIED AS COMMON CRIMINALS 

Recently, President Obama announced that the U.S. would soon resume the
military tribunals for terrorists being held at Guantanamo that he
unilaterally suspended two years ago. This is an encouraging move in the
right direction if the White House is serious about refocusing our efforts
to try these terrorists in military commissions, where they belong.  I'm
concerned
<http://vitter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressRelease
s&ContentRecord_id=96db9a05-b51b-5374-65fd-a09a296aca1f&Region_id=&Issue_id=

> , however, that the White House is indicating that it will still attempt

to try major terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as ordinary criminals in
civilian courts. This is a non-starter; I recently voted for a spending bill
that prohibits funding for such trials, and I will continue to advocate in
the Senate to defund any such trials on American soil.

Last Congress, I introduced legislation that prevented suspected terrorists
and enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay from being tried in U.S criminal
courts instead of military tribunals. Last year, I also joined 18 of my
colleagues in a letter to President Obama expressing concern about his
administration's decision to prosecute Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man
who attempted to detonate a bomb aboard an American airliner on Christmas
Day 2009, in a U.S. criminal court.