Today in Washington D. C. - May 14, 2008

On The Floor: The Senate resumed consideration of a bill (H.R. 980) that would allow first responders to unionize in any municipality with a population over 5,000. The bill would override a number of state laws. Yesterday, Democrats voted down the Republican energy package to increase domestic energy supplies. Senators subsequently agreed to a proposal to suspend purchasing oil to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and then passed the flood insurance bill (H.R. 3121).

The House: Is expected to consider the conference report for the farm bill (H.R. 2419) and appoint conferees on the budget today. Tomorrow, it is expected to take up the supplemental bill, which will likely be in the Senate next week.

From Senate & News Sources: Domestic Energy: Senate Democrats continued their disappointing refusal to support increasing domestic energy production after rejecting Republicans’ energy proposal. Democrats continue to shown that they prefer to demonize and punish oil companies rather than support anything that would actually produce energy. They’ve also done an admirable job of trying to shift the blame for high gas prices to OPEC while leaving domestic energy production to languish. Ironically, Democrats sent a letter to President Bush Monday complaining that “OPEC has voted three times in the last year against raising production,” yet their vote yesterday marks the fourth time in the last year Democrats have voted against raising production in the United States.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) held a press conference yesterday calling to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia unless the Saudis agree to produce one million more barrels of oil per day. However, Politico reports that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden (D-DE) threw cold water on the idea, saying, “[A]rbitrarily cutting off arms sales is not the right answer. ... It’s a move that could do long-term damage to our relationships and our own security, with no guarantee that it would actually bring down prices at the pump.” Similarly, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has expressed his displeasure with the “arbitrary” nature of Democrats’ plans for a windfall profits tax on oil companies.

Confirmation of Circuit Judge Nominees: Democrats have not made much progress. Only 7 nominees have been confirmed so far in this Congress, far short of the 15 President Clinton got during his last 2 years. Reid pledged to approve three nominees by Memorial Day, it’s possible he will not be able to fulfill his promise if the glacial pace of the Judiciary Committee continues. All the while eminently qualified nominees such as Judge Robert Conrad languish.

Military Funding: In the House, Blue Dogs and Democrat leadership have reached a deal to move ahead on the supplemental. Instead of removing the $52 billion in entitlements from the war funding bill that Blue Dogs were concerned about, it appears Democrats have instead to decided to simply raise taxes to pay for the extra spending. This will certainly make the bill’s path more difficult when it arrives in the Senate next week. Most of this maneuvering was unnecessary, since Democrats could have just advanced a clean war funding bill. Unsurprisingly, though, Democrats again preferred to play politics with funds for the troops, leaving it uncertain whether the money will be available by Memorial Day.

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