The Okcitykid - A Peaceful Vet

http://andrewforoklahoma.com/newsroom_details.asp?id=1155

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OKLAHOMA CITY — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice said Congress needs to focus on Middle Class relief now more than ever after a report Tuesday showing that wholesale prices have risen 9.8 percent from just one year ago. [Source:  U.S. Department of Labor, 8/19/08.]

“This is the largest annual wholesale inflation rate since the early 1980s,” Rice said. “The Bush-Cheney-Inhofe economic plan has put another $50,000 in every millionaire’s pockets this year alone, but working Oklahomans get price spikes in energy, food, health care and tuition.  After 22 years in Washington, Jim Inhofe has lost sight of who he’s supposed to be fighting for.”

Rice said the rapid inflation taking a toll on middle class Oklahomans and small businesses in the state emphasizes a need for change in Washington.

“We need to look at the way Washington has been working and then change who it works for,” Rice said. “The tax cuts should go to the middle class.  They should not go to the millionaires and big oil companies like Jim Inhofe has supported for the last eight years.  That Bush-Inhofe approach clearly is not working for ordinary Oklahoma families.”

The report, released by the U.S. Labor Department, shows energy prices inflated by 3.1 percent in July, 6 percent in June and 4.9 percent in May.

“We know there is a supply and demand problem for energy,” Rice said. “But we have known that for 10 years.  That’s why we need to break our dependence on oil.  Unfortunately, Jim Inhofe, President Bush and Dick Cheney continue to push energy policies based on politics, not solutions.  The refusal or inability of these so-called leaders to stand up to Big Oil and work toward giving America control over its own economic future illustrates the worst of Washington.

“Oklahoma businessmen are already trying to build jobs and grow our economy with alternative energy in Oklahoma.  We have a revolutionary wind-power company in Norman, geo-thermal and solar companies in Oklahoma City and bio-diesel facilities in all corners of the state.  But Inhofe has stood in the way time and again, voting against redirecting tax breaks from big oil companies to these alternative energy entrepreneurs.  As T. Boone Pickens says, when wind, solar and other incentives come down from Washington, Oklahoma’s economy is poised to grow, but we need new leadership to make that happen.”

Rice said the issues are related.

“Since we have not invested in this new energy economy, we are seeing the worst inflation in a generation and a tremendous squeeze on the middle class,” he said.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rice: ‘It’s time to put people before politics’
Poll shows State Sen. Andrew Rice
within single digits of Jim Inhofe

Press Release:
Monday, Aug. 18, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY — A poll released Monday by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Rice Campaign shows strong momentum for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice and has him within striking distance of Sen. Jim Inhofe, who has been in Washington for 22 years.

Recent numbers show Rice at 41 to Inhofe’s 50 percent. The State Senator and Democratic Nominee for the U.S. Senate said it is time our representatives in Washington to put people before politics.

“As your U.S. Senator, I will do what is right for Oklahoma and bring people together from all sides and parties to find solutions,” Rice said. “These days, Oklahomans are struggling to pay for gas, worried about having health care and if their children are getting a quality education. It is not a time to play partisan politics. We need new leadership that will help find solutions to our problems.”

This latest poll is one more major sign that Oklahomans are looking for someone who will represent the people of Oklahoma first, not their political party. The Tulsa World’s Sooner Poll showed the race at 52-30 in June and 60-19 in December. This latest poll, conducted Aug. 12-14, shows a sure and steady climb in statewide support for Rice.

Inhofe, who has served in Washington for 22 years and has been in politics for 40, has a job approval rating of 46 percent, according to the latest poll.

“Jim Inhofe has been in Washington a long time. Having received more than $1 million in contributions from big oil, he has lost his way from when Oklahomans first elected him,” said Geri Prado, Rice’s campaign manager. “It’s time for a U.S. Senator who represents his constituents, not his contributors.”

http://andrewforoklahoma.com/newsroom_details.asp?id=1145

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rice: Who is holding corporations accountable in Washington?

OKLAHOMA CITY — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Rice said Tuesday that a report from the Government Accountability Office shows how special interests have hijacked U.S. tax codes at the expense of tax cuts for working families and incentives for new energy development.

Each year between 1998 and 2005, over 65% of foreign-owned U.S. corporations paid no income tax, with a high of 71.7% in 2001, according to the GAO’s report.

“This report shows that more than 60 percent of U.S. corporations have been paying no corporate income tax from 1998 to 2005,” Rice said. “Washington is giving million-dollar handshakes to big businesses, but they’re giving working Oklahoma families the cold shoulder.”

Rice also blamed Washington leaders for allowing tax law to benefit U.S. companies that move overseas.

“Not only are most corporations not paying income tax, but multinational companies that relocate American jobs overseas don’t have to pay taxes on the income that those foreign workers generate,” Rice said. “Washington has to get its priorities straight. We should be granting tax breaks to companies that keep jobs right here on American soil.”

“There is clearly a lack of accountability in Washington, which is one of the main reasons I am running for the U.S. Senate,” Rice said. “This is why we need a U.S. Senator who changes with the times and is not stuck in the partisan politics of the last 22 years.”

Rice said Jim Inhofe recently voted against expansion of the child tax credit for working families and assorted tax incentives for alternative energy, but he consistently supports the Bush tax cuts for big business.

“Sen. Inhofe and his friends in Washington have allowed corporations to write themselves out of the tax code while leaving working families to pick up the tab,” Rice said.

Rice said that, as U.S. Senator, he will fight for expanded tax cuts for working families and push for Congressional hearings to examine the full range of corporate giveaways implemented during the Bush years.

Paid for and Authorized by Andrew Rice for US Senate, Inc.

Karina Henderson
Rice for US Senate
www.andrewforoklahoma.com