Dana Rohrabacher: “I heard the saying a long time ago that government is the most efficient method known to man of turning pure energy into…”

“I heard the saying a long time ago that government is the most efficient method known to man of turning pure energy into solid waste. Unfortunately, that is the feeling I get when I see the way we are handling our budget decisions. We are taking a perfectly good economy and we are trashing it by being irresponsible. That is one of the reasons that I am supporting the Tiahrt amendment. The Committee on Appropriations has again seen fit to add $163 million in funds not authorized by the Committee on Science. In the case of coal programs, the figure is $126 million. That is 22 times the authorized level. There are millions of dollars earmarked in this bill that the Department of Energy never requested. These funds will not be for basic research in fossil fuels technology. Rather, it will be used for large demonstration projects sponsored in many cases by some of our largest corporations, corporate welfare. The Members should know that electric and gas utility customers already provide several hundred million dollars through a fossil R&D surcharge that funds the Gas Research Institute and the Electric Power Research Institute, so here we are, the people are being double taxed for these very same research and development programs, this very same welfare for corporations, welfare for the rich. Mr. Chairman, I urge Members to save the taxpayers some money, support the authorization process. Let us bring some responsibility to the process.”