Bob Filner: “It is clear that the prices are bleeding us dry in California; my colleague from California told us in 2 years from $7…”

“It is clear that the prices are bleeding us dry in California; my colleague from California told us in 2 years from $7 billion to $70 billion. The short-term answer involves getting down those prices. The long-term answer, and we will discuss what the Governor of California is doing and what the President of the United States is not doing, is to make sure that we diversify our resources of energy, get into alternative and renewable sources, and begin the discussion of public power, which, as the gentleman knows, Los Angeles is very familiar with, and have so avoided our problems in the rest of the State. The prices have driven us to near bankruptcy in the State. Our major utilities are bankrupt. Sixty-five percent of the small businesses in San Diego County face bankruptcy this year. What should we do about these prices?”