FroshUpdate: West for the West Wing?

Written by Tim Mak on Monday May 16, 2011

Freshmen have been pushing the energy bills in the American Energy Initiative, but conservative economists tell FrumForum it will have little effect on gas prices in the next year. Meanwhile, freshman Rep. Martha Roby calls rising gas prices “the greatest threat to our economy”.

Rick Berg is expected to announce for Senate this evening, and Rep. Chuck Fleishmann announces a new award in his district for businesspeople. This is FroshUpdate for May 16, 2011.

INCYMI: FrumForum – Conservative economists pan the American Energy Initiative – H.R. 1229, 1230 and 1231 – saying that the three bills will not reduce gas prices in the foreseeable future, and not at least for the next year. “In general it is very difficult to have policies to significantly increase oil production within one year,” concurred Dr. David Kreutzer, a Research Fellow in Energy Economics at the Heritage Foundation. There’s more hope in the longer term, however, says Cato’s Peter Van Doren. http://bit.ly/kFpD5A

WEST FOR THE WEST WING? An increasing number of Tea Partiers and conservative Republicans want Rep. Allen West to run for president. The Internet is already filled with a number of sites like "Allen West For President 2012", an "Allen West for President" Facebook page and “West for the West Wing 2012," etc. http://bit.ly/iNU0qT

FLEISCHMANN LAUNCHES AWARD: Rep. Chuck Fleischmann will announce the kickoff of a new award for local businessmen, the Economic Excellence Award. The announcement will take place on Tuesday. “The free-enterprise system has helped make this country the greatest nation the world has ever known. It is those people who risk everything to start their own businesses and pursue their dreams that drive our economy. I want to recognize those people, and spotlight the great business environment we have in the 3rd District of Tennessee,” Fleischmann said. http://bit.ly/jVhDOk

BERG ANNOUNCES TONIGHT: Rep. Rick Berg is expected to announce his run for Senate on Monday night via Facebook and an e-mail to supporters. Following his announcement will be a state-wide tour. http://politi.co/lgGy4L

FroshUpdate is a regular look at how the freshman class is making news. Add us on twitter @freshmenFF, or tell others to join our mailing list by emailing frosh@frumforum.com with ’subscribe’ in the subject line.

VIDEO: Rep. Marthy Roby conducted the GOP address on Saturday, emphasizing that it's time for Washington to get serious about the challenges facing the country and to expand domestic energy production."To do nothing [is] the greatest threat to our economy," she said. http://wapo.st/mvzEbo

IN CASE YOU WEREN’T SURE: VIDEO: Allen West about Obama: "I can't stand the guy." http://bit.ly/jzo52X

GINGRICH AGAINST RYAN PLAN: On Meet the Press, Gingrich calls the plan “right-wing social engineering,” which he says is “no more desirable than left-wing social engineering”. http://wapo.st/kRoJJQ