Bill Lorge wants action on gas prices

Immediate Press Release Week Three Issue Three Again - Gas Prices

608-698-0300 www.hometown.aol.com/Lorge2000 Monday, June 19, 2000

Bill Lorge wants action on gas prices

Lorge continues to stand by cleaner burning fuels, and

again calls on Wisconsin's Governor to cut gas taxes

"Lorge still right on track, while Gov. Thompson is still dead wrong"

Madison, WI - Some say the price of crude oil is the main reason why gas prices are up.

Sure that makes up for about 75 cents a gallon. Another reason is the high gas tax we pay at the

pump - 47.8 cents a gallon total in Wisconsin, that's 18.4 cents for the federal government and 29.4

cents for Tommy. Wisconsin has one of the highest gas taxes in the Country. So let's lower them.

US Senate Candidate Bill Lorge last week called on Wisconsin Governor Tommy

Thompson to suspend the gas tax, especially on the ethanol based reformulated fuel, but

Thompson instead stands by his high gas taxes and continues to unsuccessfully call for a waiver

from using the cleaner burning fuel. "The public wants to use cleaner fuels. But our Governor is

panicking because he doesn't have a better plan and he is under pressure. He must calm down

and follow my lead, and the lead of the Indiana and Illinois Governors, and cut Wisconsin's

gas taxes now. He is doing irreparable damage to our State every day he waits," urged Lorge.

Lorge again emphasized that the Politicians calling for a Waiver are dead wrong. "The

supply is set to use the cleaner gas, they don't know what they are saying. It is the road builders

who are behind the waiver. Besides, the future is cleaner burning fuels. Am I the only Leader

out here supporting the Environment and demanding reductions in gas taxes? If so, please let

the voters know," said Lorge. "Come on Governor, even our own UW students are in Phoenix

Arizona right now with their experimental energy efficient vehicles making Wisconsin proud.

We owe that Generation a commitment to cleaner burning fuels and more efficient vehicles. I

remember when I introduced my gasohol bill in the Wisconsin State Legislature, and even

though I was pleased it passed - as it was the only gasohol bill that passed that year,

unfortunately it was weakened by Governor Thompson in the end. There is no doubt that

Tommy Thompson is against cleaner burning and alternative fuels. Governor, you are failing

this State's future by asking for a Waiver of the fuel we all want to use, especially when a

waiver would mess up the supply and demand that has already been set in place. Maybe you

just wanted to embarrass EPA Administrator Carol Browner as you said, but it is you Governor

who should be embarrassed," added Lorge who stressed that he does not plan to attack Tommy

Thompson throughout his US Senate Campaign, "I did not plan this, it is just so obvious that he

is dead wrong and this issue is more important than any of us. Is he more concerned about his

road building friends than the rest of the State? I want the people, especially those voting in

the Republican Primary in September, to know that there are alternatives in the GOP to

Tommy's iron rule, and I am that Alternative. The Governor gave me a great issue when gave

my GOP opponent the endorsement, but now he is giving me another issue. The main

difference is that the gas price issue involves people's lives, while the other is just inside GOP

politics that most people don't care about, but those same people will decide for themselves - not

the convention delegates, who the GOP Senate Nominee will be in September," added Lorge.

Lorge is very much in the Wisconsin US Senate Race:

Lorge released this statement to remind the Governor and the Media that he is very much in

the US Senate race to stay and that he will not go easy on issues like this one when he knows he is

right. "The Voters deserve a choice. 'Let the People Decide' is our new motto. I am going to

run a perfect race. My issues will have a lot of punch. I encourage the media and others

concerned to take what I say very seriously, because the voters who plan to elect me to the US

Senate are listening and they like what I am saying," Lorge added.

Lorge added that his campaign got off to one rocky start but it only made him more

determined to press on. First he lost half of his back yard because of the flooding, then his

own party took away his delegate status and changed the rules to exclude him from the state

GOP convention, then his only campaign car was hit and damaged while in a Madison

parking lot June 15 (Case #00-66023). "I sure wont quit now that the worst is over. The water

is going back down, the car is in the shop, and the people out there will have a clear choice at

the ballot box - 'The People will Decide'. I am more determined now than ever to win this

election. When the two Governors from Illinois and Indiana did exactly what I asked our

Governor to do, it gave me the added boost I needed to show that I am right and that I need to

stay in this race to the end, to give the voters a real choice. I am also pleased to announce that

my very first campaign donation was a $10 money order from an 83 year old woman from

Delevan. I'll make that $10 go 100 times farther than my opponent's $1,000 will go. I hope in

the end the election will be like a shopper deciding on what product to buy. I will be the newer

younger more energetic and cheaper product with the best bang for the buck, and my opponent

will be the older, used or out of date and more expensive product that hopefully will be left on

the shelf," Lorge analyzed.

Lorge said he will not spend more than $500,000 on his entire race,

and challenged his opponents to do the same. Lorge said, if elected to the US Senate, he will vote

to reduce the 18.4 cent per gallon Federal Gas Tax, especially for cleaner burning fuels, and most

especially on ethanol based fuels that help Wisconsin's corn farmers.

To read the complete Press Release Lorge sent out Week Two/Issue Two on 6/12/2000 calling for a cut in the gas tax and issuing his support for the cleaner burning fuels, go to:

www.hometown.aol.com/lorge2000/issues/gasprice

www.hometown.aol.com/lorge2000

Lorge2000@aol.com

608-698-0300

# # #

Lorge's favorite quotes in researching this issue:

But Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner said that wholesale prices for the reformulated, cleaner gasoline have dropped. "This further confirms our findings that cleaner gasoline, less-polluting gasoline requirements, are not the cause of the price spikes in Chicago and Milwaukee," said Browner. "In fact, nationally, cleaner gasoline -- which is about one-third of the gasoline sold in the United States -- is now selling, on average, as of today, for less than conventional gasoline," she said. (*CNN.com) Bill Lorge will vote to support increased use of cleaner burning fuels.

Another:

"We are in a nightmare of patchwork-quilt environmental regulations which wreak havoc with gasoline supply and price stability," Lundberg said. "The wide variety of regulations affecting formulas has created wide price disparities around the country and made distribution of gasoline more problematic." Bill Lorge will vote to reduce these variations. To go full speed ahead with the cleanest burning fuels for all of America and end the patchwork.

Background information:

Metropolitan areas with some of the worst air pollution in the nation were required by June 1 to start using a new kind of gas that is designed to preserve air quality. Dealers in the Midwest, where many cities use a kind of reformulated gas that is blended with the corn derivative ethanol, are paying 26 cents more at wholesale, Lundberg said. Consequently, some retailers, such as those in Chicago, have sacrificed profit margin to remain competitive. Bill Lorge will vote to increase the use of cleaner burning fuels and lower the tax on those cleaner burning fuels to reduce gas prices substantially.

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