Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) says that the war in Iraq was totally unnecessary, unprovoked and unjustified. (0:32)

 

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House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D- MD) focused on the rising price of gas in his weekly sit-down with reporters. He showed a series of charts that indicated the rise in the price of gas over the last 16 years. Under the Clinton administration, Hoyer said, the price of gasoline went from $1.06 to $1.46 in the course of Clinton’s eight years. A separate chart demonstrated that under the Bush administration gas has gone from $1.46 to $4.06, which is the current national average. This is the House Democrat response to the campaign against the “Pelosi Premium” pointing out the price rise under Bush instead of under Democratic majority in Congress. All of Hoyer’s data came from the Energy Information Administration at the Department of Energy.

Hoyer admitted that across Congress all the energy plans being offered are mostly designed at long term relief. He said that Democrats have done their part to reduce prices by passing anti-gouging legislation and working toward regulation of speculators, but that there are very few things that Congress can do to reduce prices in the short term. In response to the Republican measures that call for more drilling and more refining capacity, Hoyer pointed out statistics that suggested that drilling in ANWR would only lead to a 1.8 cent drop in gas prices by 2030.

Hoyer also mentioned Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introducing articles of impeachment against President George Bush, taking up a total of four and a half hours of floor time. Hoyer said that he expect this to be referred to committing with out a second read-through, effectively tabling the bill.

The negative effect on neighborhoods caused by vacant homes, foreclosed due to subprime mortgages, was discussed at a joint hearing of the House Domestic Policy Subcommittee and the House Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee. Support was expressed for HR 5818, a bipartisan bill that gives $15 billion to communities that have been devastated by increased housing vacancy; a bill President Bush has said he will veto. (more…)

At a Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis on neighborhoods, Chairman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) says that while “the meltdown of subprime lending has been a genuine tragedy” for individuals, the “totally blameless victims” are the neighborhoods affected by vacant and abandoned property.  Kucinich lists the repercussions of abandoned properties, including falling property value, loss of rental units, rise in crime, and loss in tax revenue. (1:00)

 

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The Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on “Neighborhoods: The Blameless Victims of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis” to discuss the more widespread repercussions of foreclosures and vacant properties within concentrated areas, as opposed to effects on individual families and the economy.
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Congressman Kucinich (D-OH) says that the crisis to elect a new Lebanese president is partly due to U.S. involvement. Rival factions in Lebanon have been unable to agree on a new president since former President Emile Lahoud left office last November.

 

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Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) voices his concern over the most recent Israeli siege on Gaza in an interview following the State of the Union Address. He describes the siege as a “serious crisis” and says that President Bush is ignoring it.

 

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WGIR’s Angela Anderson talks with Melissa Etheridge about the role of the media in controlling which candidates can get their views out, and she explains her support for Dennis Kucinich. (9:55)

 

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