• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Bush to Push Energy Bill During Ohio Stop

Posted on: Thursday, 30 October 2003, 06:00 CST

President Bush is trying to cajole lawmakers into passing his energy plan as he and his wife pad the Bush-Cheney re-election bank account already worth more than $84 million.

Bush on Thursday was resuming an aggressive hunt for campaign cash he put on hold for a trip to Asia and Australia earlier this month.

The trip was carrying him from his ranch in central Texas to Columbus, Ohio, and back to Texas for a second fund-raiser in San Antonio.

Bush dispatched Laura Bush to Tyler, Texas, for another campaign fund-raiser; Vice President Dick Cheney headlined a fund-raiser in Washington on Wednesday night. These money events opened a new phase of heavy fund raising for Bush's re-election. Bush was starring at still another fund-raiser in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday.

The White House wedged a policy event in between Bush's two fund-raisers Thursday.

Bush plans to give the stalled energy bill a push by visiting an Ohio aluminum company that has been financially hurt by high energy prices.

The visit to Columbus-based Central Aluminum Co. was not originally scheduled but by adding an appearance with a public policy theme, the re-election campaign was able to bill taxpayers for part of Bush's political travels.

The aluminum company, which makes metal shapes, foundries and aluminum products, runs its operations using natural gas, which has increased in price recently.

"It provides a forum for the president to talk about why it's important for the country to have a steady supply of energy and natural gas," White House spokesman Jim Morrell said Tuesday.

Senate Republicans said this week that an impasse over ethanol taxes could scuttle the massive energy bill that Congress has struggled to complete for more than three years. The bill passed the House and Senate earlier this year and was being reconciled by a joint committee.

The issues threatening to derail the bill include proposals to inventory oil and gas resources in off-limits coastal waters, open an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling and change the way ethanol taxes are spent.

The Ohio congressional delegation lobbied hard for the ethanol provision, which would increase highway spending for states by shifting tax collected on ethanol from the general fund to the highway trust fund, which is used to maintain the nation's roads and bridges.

States get a percentage of the money they collect for the highway fund, so states such as Ohio that have a large percentage of ethanol users end up losing millions of dollars.

Senate Republicans have urged the White House to put more pressure on House Republicans to resolve the ethanol debate, but the White House couldn't say whether the president would comment on the topic during his visit.

Also on his trip to Ohio, Bush will attend a $2,000-a-person fund-raiser lunch hosted by Gov. Bob Taft at a downtown Columbus hotel.

Bush's visit also gave him a chance to court the critical battleground state of Ohio. Thursday's visit is Bush's 13th to Ohio as president

Bush is also trying to refocus public attention on his domestic agenda at a time when rising violence in Iraq is consuming much of voters' attention.

The president gave a similar call-to-action Wednesday morning before leaving Washington, urging lawmakers to send him a Medicare bill.

More News in this Category