@briannalyman2 Some of these people have been here for 25-30 years because their parents/families served in governments in Haiti and exposed corruption. They had to leave or be targeted. If they go back, they still have bounties on their heads. There are good people, here legally, working hard.
Good evening @RepRoKhanna. We hope you had a nice Saturday.
Several people have requested we comment on your post. We will quickly before we take Mrs. USOGA out for date night.
First - like you, we hope this war will end soon and things will return to normal. Until then - things will be what they will be.
But high gas prices in your district aren’t “Trump’s war”—they’re Sacramento’s doing.
California drivers pay nearly double the national average in state taxes, plus cap-and-trade, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, unique reformulated gasoline, refinery limits, and geographic isolation that blocks cheap imports.
That adds $1.00–$1.78+ over the U.S. average.
Here is our suggestion. Your proposed windfall profits tax will do nothing to bring relief to your overtaxed and underappreciated constituents.
Instead -suspend those state-level taxes first and bring California prices in line with the national average.
Put your state bureaucracy on a diet. They could stand to shed a few pounds.
Encourage California domestic oil and gas production and expand your refinery capacity instead of shutting it down.
Stand up to your Governor. You know he is wrong and you can be on the right side of things
And let's talk windfall profits tax.
They don't work. While you don't call it a windfall profits tax, California recently passed one and called it a "wealth tax" now you see high net worth individuals fleeing your state.
History proves it backfires.
The 1980 Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax cut domestic production 1–8% (hundreds of millions of barrels lost), boosted imports 3–13%, raised far less revenue than projected after deductions, created massive bureaucracy, and was repealed in 1988 because it discouraged supply exactly when America needed more.
That in turn led us to depend even more on Middle East imports for another 20 years right up until the shale revolution occurred. Kind of like how California is dependent on imports now.
Your repeated sponsorship of a new Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act would repeat the exact same mistake—shrinking U.S. output and raising costs.
Crude exports? They expand global supply, narrow price spreads (WTI-Brent) which is exerts downward pressure on world prices.
It is directly helping allies in Europe and Asia counter China's skirting sanctions and colluding with Iran to purchase crude at huge discounts.
Restricting exports would tighten markets, spike costs everywhere—including here—and hurt the consumers you claim to protect.
Finally we must also point out that
your voting record shows consistent opposition to our industry you want to tax. For example, you:
Voted against leasing more public lands and waters for oil drilling (2023, Roll Call 23).
Voted against reversing land-management protections to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling—multiple times, including 2025 Roll Call 295 and earlier efforts to halt ANWR development.
Opposed critical oil and gas leasing reforms and fast-tracking fossil-fuel infrastructure (2024 Roll Call 95; 2025 votes undermining LNG authority and blocking fracking bans).
Voted NO on NDAA provisions that would expedite oil/gas permitting (2022–2023).
You have a 99% lifetime League of Conservation Voters score—near-perfect opposition to domestic energy exploration, production and leasing.
You’ve led hearings attacking us and sponsored bills to repeal industry tax provisions.
Fine—own that record.
But please stop shifting blame to “Trump’s war” or federal policy while California’s own choices keep your constituents paying the highest pump prices in America.
Real relief comes from more American supply + streamlined permitting, not recycled 1980s taxes or more restrictions.
Energy abundance, not rhetoric, lowers prices and bolsters U.S. and allied security.
Mrs. USOGA has instructed us to put the phone away so we will do that.
Have a good weekend.
@CraigCaplan He was a good member. I was a junior staffer on HIRC under Chairman Hyde, and remember Mr Engel well. He was kind to staff and showed up to every hearing.
Union energy workers across America - the operators in America's refineries - want to protect their jobs, families, and communities from more refinery closures.
@iuoe_union & @UAPipeTrades stand with @POTUS in support of protecting small and independent refineries.
All interested in the US trade policy, from tariffs to USMCA, should read this speech. You may not agree w/ the substance, but @USTradeRep has set forth a vision & explains the progress to date.
One area for the 122 debate, citing the GATT
“•Article 12 says that countries that have a persistent trade deficit can impose tariffs to protect the “balance of payments” and protect against harmful effects such as excessive debt or currency devaluation.”
In Wisconsin, we're literally paying for kids not to read. Over ten years...
💰 Spending per student +53%
($12,250 →$18,750)
📉 % Students NOT Reading at Grade Level: 49% →60%
The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets in classrooms.
The result: Gen Z is the first generation to score lower on standardized tests than their parents.
https://t.co/hFuTvhbg3n
The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets in classrooms.
The result: Gen Z is the first generation to score lower on standardized tests than their parents.
https://t.co/hFuTvhbg3n
The Section 122 10% import surcharge is the “eye candy”, while the real reciprocal trade negotiations (“ARTs”) and U.S. leverage will be grandfathered in and continued under a now expedited 301 investigation. Get ready for an expedited (likely 30 day) comment period. https://t.co/1eDCeA9xHb
@SecRollins@NationalCorn@POTUS has been clear, His Administration supports a deal on E15 that protects "consumers and refiners, including small and midsize refiners."
@POTUS called on the #DomesticEnergyCouncil to make a deal that "works for consumers and refiners, including small and midsize refiners."
America's Small, Midsize, and Independent Refiners say the Council's "compromise" does meet President Trump's call to protect our refineries and support consumers.
Please explain how Wind, Solar, and batteries will work at peak demand? How can it save lives when we are at our coldest or hottest and the wind isn't blowing nor the sun shining. We have to build the grid for the worst case scenario. How can wind and solar provide baseload power when we need it most?
⭐️🏀 With tonight’s win over Columbus Grove, Coach Triplett secures his 221st victory- becoming the all-time winningest boys basketball coach in Shawnee history. Congratulations, Coach 👏🏻👏🏻🏆
Or TACO - Trump Achieves Concessions Only by threatening maximum tariffs, the targets of the tariffs flip out and give up a lesser position (related to the tariffs or not), which typically is still more than the US actually wanted. The Admin has been saying since Spring 2025 that maximum tariffs would be rolled back if & when countries reach deals w/ the US. These deals are being “finalized”, & we now see those roll backs. It’s Lucy and Charlie Brown w/ the football.
I watched a guy on the bus today. 6:45 AM in the morning while jogging, His eyes looked heavy, like he was carrying the weight of an entire lineage on his shoulders. But immediately he sat down, he brought out his phone and started scrolling TikTok.
As a Biomedical Engineer, I wanted to snatch that phone from his hand.
See, let me tell you the bitter truth nobody wants to hear.
Most of you are not lazy or "unlucky." You are chemically sabotaging your own destiny before you even brush your teeth.
The first 60 minutes of your day is a war zone. Your brain is begging for direction. It runs on dopamine, that’s the fuel for your motivation. But what do you do?
You wake up. Your eyes haven't even adjusted to the darkness of your room, and gbam, you pick up your phone.
You check WhatsApp to see who ignored you. You check X to see who is fighting. You check Instagram to see your mates buying cars you can't afford yet.
You think you are just "waking up," but scientifically? You are flooding your brain with cheap, unearned dopamine. You are frying your reward system. By 8 AM, your brain is already tired. It has consumed "content" but produced nothing.
And let me speak to the men for a second.
I write about men a lot because I see what you go through. The pressure is much. You wake up and the first thought is Rent, School fees, the woman you want to impress.
It is terrifying.
So, you grab your phone to escape. The phone is your pacifier. It numbs the panic of the morning. But that comfort is a lie.
When you start your day with cheap dopamine, actual work feels like torture. You have programmed your neurochemistry to be a consumer, not a king.
You are training your brain to be weak in a world that eats weak men for breakfast.
Here is the hard truth (and you can drag me if you like):
Your morning mood doesn’t determine how your day goes. It determines your capacity to suffer for your success.
If you can’t survive the first hour of the day without a screen, how do you want to survive the economy?
Protect your first hour.
Don't touch that phone.
Stare at the ceiling. Pray. Do pushups. Go for a morning jug or walk.
Let your brain starve for a bit so it learns to hunt for the hard things.
Stop feeding your destiny to the algorithm.
The 17th Amendment is an abomination to our Constitutional Republic. We are not supposed to vote for our Senators because the Senate doesn’t represent the people, it is supposed to represent the States. Since it is supposed to represent the States, Senators are supposed to be appointed by the States.
The 17th Amendment was ratified by the same deception you repeat now to rob the States of their representation in Congress and destroy the Sovereignty of the States and their essential role and duty to be a check and balance on the power of the federal government.
The sad thing is that Americans don’t know this because the government is in charge of teaching us about the government and the government doesn’t want us to know that it is supposed to be limited and defined and the States are supposed to keep the Feds limited. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
To be changed or repealed it will take an Amendment to the Constitution. Read Article V or Learn more at https://t.co/LMNVsIsNGK