Horn Responds To Hode's Election Year Stunt

30th May 2008

NECN's Lauren Collins reports on Paul Hode's press conference.

Script:

First term Congressman Paul Hodes plans to introduce a bill that would offer businesses a tax credit for fifty percent of any reimbursement they give employees that take part in ride share or other carpool programs.

No estimates yet on how much the program would cost. Hodes has already co-sponsored bills to suspend shipments to the nation's strategic oil reserve and to crack down on oil cartels.

Hodes says programs like ride share not only help families trying to cut commuting costs, they also have a positive impact on the environment. His opponents in the Second District, however, call the whole idea an election year gimmick.

Jennifer Horn is one of four Republicans who hopes to challenge Hodes. Like all the candidates in this race, she says the U.S. has got to get off foreign oil, but she'd prefer Congress focus on a broad-based solution.

Horn: The first step is, we need to leave more of the money that people earn in their pockets to begin with.

Grant Bosse's ten-point energy plan starts with less congressional intervention in the marketplace.

Bosse: A lot of these are long-term problems that Congress has caused. So, we're going to have a long-term solution but in the short term, ending the ethanol boondoggle is the quickest way that we can bring down gas prices permanently.

That boondoogle - government subsidies to ethanol producers. Robert Clegg, who backs domestic drilling, agrees subsidies are a bad idea.

“We actually have to expend more energy to produce ethanol to save supposedly, the carbon footprint, than we actually get out of the ethanol.”

Even Hodes admits ethanol subsidies aren't what Congress hoped they would be. Still, he has the advantage in this race - a recent UNH poll gives Hodes strong lead over the top two Republican fundraisers - 52 to 25 percent over Jennifer Horn and 51 to 24 percent over Bob Clegg.