In response to Democratic challenger Walt Minnick’s wildly popular discount-gas campaign event today, GOP Rep. Bill Sali’s spokesman, Wayne Hoffman, said, “It sounds to me as if he (Minnick) has signed on to the same energy policy Democrats have adopted, which has resulted in the high gas prices we’re experiencing.” Minnick had criticized Sali for voting against three bills this year that Minnick said offered “real solutions” to the problem, including HR 6, which Minnick said “ended the egregious, lavish tax breaks heaped on ‘big oil.’” Hoffman disagreed. “If you read those bills, there are billions of dollars in new taxes contained in the legislation, taxes on energy producers. That’s not going to lower gas prices,” he said. Hoffman said, “Radical environmentalists and left-wing Democrats are directly responsible for the high gas prices we are experiencing today.”

As to why Sali was holding a luncheon fundraiser with the oil and gas industry today, Hoffman said, “They are business people, and Congressman Sali has an excellent voting record in supporting businesses big and small. He understands that raising taxes on businesses is not going to result in lower gas prices.”

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