Dingell and Waxman will fight for leadership position in Committee on Energy and Commerce
Following Barack Obama's - and the Democrats' - huge win on Tuesday, Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) released a statement (PDF) saying he was seeking the chairmanship of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. That position is currently held by the Detroit automakers' great friend John Dingell (D-MI). While Dingell carries water for the Big 2.2 with some regularity, Waxman has not been shy in the past to criticize parts of the federal government when they seemed to be working for the automakers instead of citizens and spoke out against the Bush Administration's attempts to keep global warming information from getting out. In short, these men are both Democrats but are not at all on the same page when it comes to car-related legislation issues.
So, the fight for the chairmanship will be an interesting to see play out. Daily Kos has an excellent primer on the coming battle. If you're political junkie looking for a post-election news fix, it's gonna really hit the spot.
[Source: dKos]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
paulwesterberg 2:11PM (11/07/2008)
On energy efficiency and emissions standards Dingell is worse than many republicans.
He needs to step aside and in order for the democrats to implement real change and reform in Washington.
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Mike!!ekiM 6:40PM (11/07/2008)
Agreed.
What did Dingell accomplish by kissing industry A$$? They don't have a product to sell in this environment. The Volt is 3 years too late.
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Ben 9:05PM (11/08/2008)
I've talked to two different friends from auto families in Michigan. They've been upset with Dingell's blank check to auto corporation heads. Both agreed GM had the technology right with the EV-1, but were looking for short term profit from SUV's to insure the CEO's pay packages wouldn't be disrupted. Both agreed we should have stayed with pure BEV's and that we don't need a national charging system to have real available transportation. Get Dingell out was the feeling.
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