For Immediate Release

Contacts:  Niger Innis, CORE, 718-708-3506
Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., High Impact Leadership Coalition – 240-845-0388

22 Members of Congress Named As “Punishers of the Poor” For Refusing to Support Affordable Energy

Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks and Tens Named In Coalition’s Affordable Energy Playing Cards

St. Paul, MN – A coalition of leaders from the African American, civil rights, faith based, veterans, and agricultural communities named 22 Members of Congress as “Punishers of the Poor” today for their consistent voting against policies that favor affordable energy.

The group highlighted 16 key energy votes in the U.S. House and Senate as evidence of an unacceptable policy and pattern of restricting new supplies of energy that push consumer prices higher and immorally and disproportionately hurt poor families.

The “Alliance to Stop the War on the Poor” portrayed Members as the Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, Tens and Jokers in its growing deck of affordable energy playing cards.

At the Democratic National Convention last week, the group released the first six cards – Aces and Jokers – in a campaign that will mirror the fall election with the entire bipartisan deck being unveiled by election day.

The entire list of 22 politicians can be seen at the end of this release.

“These 22 politicians are the Generals and Colonels in charge of waging an unprecedented and immoral war on the poor,” said Niger Innis, National Spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality and co-chairman of the Alliance to Stop the War on the Poor.  “These votes are a clear pattern of pushing policies that restrict American energy supplies that push consumer prices higher.  This is an immoral act and is delivering disproportionate punishment to low-income and poor families across America.  We intend to keep speaking out on this war on behalf of poor people until the election and beyond.”

“We call this a ‘War on the Poor’ because high energy prices disproportionately impact America’s poor and low income families,” said Bishop Harry Jackson, Chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and national co-chairman of the Alliance.  “High energy prices caused by these deliberate attempts to restrict traditional low-cost energy supplies are the most regressive kind of tax on our most vulnerable citizens.  The blind allegiance by these Washington, D.C. politicians to the demands of the extreme national environmental groups is crippling those who can least to pay for their energy today.”

“High prices hit poor families the hardest,” said Bishop Phillip Porter, Chairman of Colorado Consumers of Affordable Energy and founder of the All Nations Pentecostal Church of God in Christ in Aurora, Colorado.  Porter who joined the press conference by phone said that “a recent study shows that while medium income families have to devote five cents on the dollar of their income to energy costs, poor families have to devote upwards of fifty cents of every dollar.  That is fifty cents that can’t be spent on health care or education or food.  This is an appalling situation and these votes in Congress show it.”

Lee Hogan, President of the Utah Farm Bureau and Vice Chair of the Utah Consumers for Affordable Energy, said “High energy prices are contributing to high food prices.  In states like Utah where the large extremist groups try to restrict energy development, we pay a heavy price for these policies.  Congressional votes that in effect reduce access to American energy supply hurt American agriculture and is not in the best interests of the nation.”Colorado Senator Mike Kopp (R), Vice Chair of Colorado Veterans for Energy Security,  stated that “America must strive to become more energy independent.  Defending foreign energy supply lines with American combat troops to maintain our access to foreign energy is unacceptable when we also block American energy development here.  U.S. politicians who block access to American energy supplies are forcing us to continue to send our brave troops abroad – and some never come back.”

The Alliance to Stop the War on the Poor will release the remaining “Punishers of the Poor” playing cards over the course of the next two months.  The remaining cards – nines through twos – is bipartisan and based upon recent U.S. House and Senate energy votes and leadership criteria that distinguishes these Members on the issue of increasing or restricting American energy supplies. 

The Alliance’s identified these key votes used in constructing their affordable energy scorecard:  http://www.stopwaronpoor.org/key votes.aspx

The Alliance’s voting scorecard showing how all U.S. House Members voted on these issues is shown here:  http://www.stopwaronpoor.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1999

The Alliance’s voting scorecard showing how all U.S. Senators voted on these issues is shown here:  http://www.stopwaronpoor.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2000

The Coalition named these politicians as Punishers of the Poor:

Home State	Title	Rating	Playing Card
CA	House Speaker  Nancy Pelosi	0	Joker
NV	U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid	25	Joker
MA	Representative Ed Markey	6	Ace of Diamonds
CA	Representative George Miller	0	Ace of Clubs
IL	Senator Dick Durbin	0	Ace of Hearts
CA	Senator Barbara Boxer	0	Ace of Spades
NY	Representative Maurice Hinchey	0	King of Hearts
NM	Senator Jeff Bingaman	0	King of Spades
CO	Senator> Ken Salazar	0	King of Diamonds
MD	Representative Steny Hoyer	0	King of Clubs
NY	Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton	0	Queen of Clubs
NY	Representative Charlie Rangel	6	Queen of Hearts
IL	Representative Rahm Emanuel	0	Queen of Spades
MI	Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick	13	Queen of Diamonds
WV	Representative Nick Rahall	31	Jack of Clubs
CA	Representative Fortney Stark	0	Jack of Diamonds
OH	Representative Dennis Kucinich	0	Jack of Hearts
CT	Representative Rose DeLauro	0	Jack of Spades
WA	Representative Norm Dicks	0	10 of Clubs
WI	Representative David Obey	0	10 of Spades
MT	Senator Max Baucus	0	10 of Hearts
MI	Representative John Dingell	12	10 of Diamonds