Issues

GAS PRICES & THE ECONOMY

 

Gas Prices
Hard-working American families are suffering from high prices at the pump.  Nathan Bech supports a suspension of increases in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to reduce demand for oil. International demand for oil is bolstered by federal purchases for the SPR.  There is no reason to fill it when oil is so expensive, when the reserve is adequate in size, and when new purchases push up consumer gas prices. Nathan will end other policies that contribute to higher transportation and food costs. Ethanol subsidies, tariff barriers and sugar quotas drive up fuel and food prices and hurt Americans.
Nathan supports the highest environmental standards for drilling.  He believes we must drill in the United States including ANWR and Off Shore in American waters to increase the supply of oil.  He believes we should offer tax incentives and reduce red-tape and fast track new oil refineries in the United States to lower the cost of production.  Nathan supports the bipartisan solution of a National Gas Tax Holiday during the summer months suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax. 
Nathan's plan will reduce the price of gas by a minimum of $1.98 per gallon.
Ending Urban Poverty
Nathan Bech believes that it is tragic that Holyoke is one of the poorest cities in America. He believes we must take rapid action by creating incentives for businesses to locate, developers to rehabilitate housing, and innovators of all stripes to target our poorest cities. Nathan will work to have Holyoke named as a Federal Economic Empowerment Zone bringing federal preference and tax incentives to those who invest in Holyoke. He will also partner with state and municipal leaders to ensure that our efforts are united and not duplicative. Jobs, Housing and Education are the keys to restoring prosperity to some of the commonwealth’s finest people. We owe them no less.
Attacking the Housing Crisis
Nathan Bech supports a timely plan targeted to help those hurt by the housing crisis.  He would afford deserving Americans, but not speculators, the opportunity to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable FHA-backed loan that reflects their home's true market value. This program would be open to Americans with non-conventional mortgages on owner occupied property taken after 2005; who can prove creditworthiness either at the time of the original loan or today, and are either delinquent, in arrears on payments, facing a reset or otherwise able to demonstrate that they will be unable to continue to meet their mortgage obligations. They must be able to meet the terms of a new 30 year fixed-rate mortgage on the existing home.
Making America Competitive
 
Nathan Bech supports lower barriers to American goods at overseas markets. There are twenty times more potential consumers of American goods outside our borders than within. Our businesses need fair access to those markets. Nathan believes we should engage in multilateral, regional and bilateral efforts to reduce barriers to trade, level the global playing field, and build effective enforcement of global trading rules.  These steps would also strengthen the U.S. dollar and help to control the rising cost of living that hurts our families. Nathan would restore fast track rules for American trade agreements instead of holding American allies like Columbia hostage to domestic politics.