Today in Washington D. C. - July 18, 2008

The Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the Democrats’ energy speculation bill (S. 3268). A cloture vote on the motion to proceed is expected Tuesday.

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed two New York district court judges. Democrats continue to stall on circuit court nominees. Yesterday marked one year since Judge Robert Conrad was nominated to the 4th Circuit, and today marks 750 days since Peter Keisler’s nomination to the DC Circuit.

From The News: Judicial nominations: Ever wonder if Reid is auditioning for a lead role in a new edition of the show "Lost in Space." CitizenLink reports that on the floor yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., claimed the issue of judicial nominees doesn’t matter to Americans. “I’m telling you, Madam President, I can't ever remember going home and somebody saying, ‘Could you guys (confirm) some more judges? We need to take care of this judges problem.’ ” Reid said. “Frankly, judge(s) is not a big issue (compared) to all of the other problems we're facing in America.” Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council, said America’s problems are exactly why judicial confirmations are necessary.

Energy & Gas Prices: Next week, the Senate is set to begin a long overdue debate on energy and gas prices. Unfortunately, instead of offering a balanced piece of legislation to address both supply and demand, Democrats have put forward a narrow bill aimed at blaming energy traders and markets. The New York Times reports that financial industry executives are already concerned about the bill, and are “saying it could unsettle already nervous markets and push more energy trading abroad, beyond the reach of domestic regulators.”

Both sides of the aisle agree on the need to strengthen regulatory bodies, though Democrat Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington has taken a bizarre approach. According to a McClatchy report, Cantwell is concerned that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is not properly regulating oil markets. Her solution? Blocking three nominees to the commission.

Democrats are certainly aware of the public clamor for more domestic energy production, but instead of joining with Republicans to boost energy supplies, they spent yesterday on proposals more concerned with “showing” that they’re “responding” to high gas prices. The result was what the Los Angeles Times describes as bills “with catchy names, [that] are unlikely to become law.” Indeed, The New York Times notes that House Democrats failed yesterday to pass a bill they were calling the “Drill Act” that would not have opened any new areas to oil exploration.

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