Self-serving politician Ted Budd was once again caught doing the bidding of his big money backers. After he was called out for going on luxury vacations paid for by dark money special interest groups, and caught taking money from Big Pharma the same day he voted to allow them to continue to gouge prices on North Carolina families, Budd has now been caught taking money from Big Oil just a day before he voted against a bill that would stop them from gouging prices at the pump.
This kind of corrupt, self-serving politics from Ted Budd is exactly what the people of North Carolina are sick and tired of seeing in Washington. That’s why we need to elect Cheri Beasley, who is refusing any corporate PAC money, so North Carolinians know she will fight for them in the Senate by working to stop corporate price gouging and lower costs.
American Independent: Ted Budd took oil company donation one day before voting against gas price-gouging ban
07/18/22
Josh Israel
-
Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), his party’s nominee for Senate this November, voted in May against a bill to prohibit price gouging by oil and gas companies. Just one day earlier, he took the legal maximum contribution from a major fossil fuel company’s political action committee.
-
But in May, Budd and every other House Republican voted against the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act, which would bar energy companies from “exploiting the circumstances related to an energy emergency to increase prices unreasonably.” The bill passed in the House of Representatives on May 19, on a mostly party-line vote of 217-207. It is now awaiting action in the Senate, where the Republican minority can block it through the filibuster.
-
One day before Budd cast his no vote, Continental Resources Inc. Political Action Committee — the political arm of a major energy company — gave the legal maximum of $5,000 to Budd’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission disclosure forms.
-
In June, gas prices hit record highs — averaging more than $5 per gallon. According to AAA, the average has since dropped by more than 40 cents per gallon, but remains well above the previous record. While the high prices have hit consumers hard, they have been a boon for Continental Resources and other energy companies, which have seen massive profits and avoided steps that might bring prices down.
-
This is not the first time Budd has sided with oil and gas industry donors over the interests of his constituents.
-
On Sept. 11, 2019, he voted against a ban on offshore drilling along the Atlantic coast. The legislation — which passed in the House, but was killed by the then-GOP majority in the Senate — would have protected North Carolina’s coastal communities.
-
A week after that vote, Budd accepted $2,000 from Marathon Petroleum’s PAC. A spokesperson for the company did not respond to an inquiry about the donation.
-
In December 2017, Budd voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Former President Donald Trump’s tax plan slashed taxes for corporations and wealthy Americans while raising them for 10 million families — and saved 17 large oil and gas companies about $25 billion in taxes.
-
The industry has rewarded Budd for his loyalty. Since 2017, he has received more than $43,000 from oil and gas political action committees. According to OpenSecrets data, the sector has contributed at least $93,422 over the course of his political career.
-
Budd has frequently cast his lot with the corporate interests that fund him. In 2019, he opposed the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which would have meant lower prescription drug costs for his constituents, just days before taking thousands of dollars from pharmaceutical industry PACs.
-
Budd will face Democratic nominee Cheri Beasley in November for the open seat of retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC).
-
Beasley, a former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, is running as a supporter of clean energy, a backer of climate change action, and an opponent of offshore drilling.
-
In May, she condemned Budd’s vote against the energy price gouging bill.
-
“North Carolinians across the state are struggling with high gas prices and rather than holding big oil companies making record profits accountable for price gouging, Congressman Ted Budd once again has put corporate special interests above the needs of North Carolinians,” she wrote. “It’s clear: Congressman Budd is wrong for North Carolina.”
###