Today in Washington D. C. - June 23, 2008

On The Floor: The Senate reconvenes at 3 PM today and resume consideration of the housing bill (House message to accompany H.R. 3221). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed cloture on the bill Friday, and a cloture vote is scheduled for 11 AM tomorrow. Reid may file cloture on the compromise FISA bill (H.R. 6304) today, which would set up a vote for Wednesday. Floor action is also expected this week on the supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 2642), a Medicare doctor payments fix, and an FAA authorization extension.

The House passed the FISA bill 293-129 on Friday.

From News Sources: Gas / Oil Prices: Saturday, President Bush reminded Americans that Democrats in Congress have long blocked proposals to increase American energy supplies. From offshore drilling, to exploring for oil in ANWR, to tapping western oil shale, Congressional Democrats have blocked them all. Today, Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard, examined Democrats’ excuses for opposing production of more domestic oil and gas: “[D]espite soaring gasoline prices, Democrats are against opening new areas of federal land or offshore for exploitation of oil and natural gas reserves. Instead, they've come up with lame, dubious, or intellectually dishonest reasons for their opposition.”

Iraq: While Democrats continue to ignore realities concerning energy production, the press appears to be waking up to the realities in Iraq. USA Today has a front-page story today acknowledging that “[r]oadside bomb attacks and fatalities in Iraq are down by almost 90% over the last year.” Jason Campbell and Michael O’Hanlon (Brookings Institute) op-ed in The New York Times yesterday pointed to “major progress this spring” which “give[s] reason for hope that the major improvement in security resulting from the surge of American forces may endure even as the surge itself ends this July.” Today, The New York Times reveals that things have apparently improved enough in Iraq that news networks are barely interested in stories from the country any more and correspondents struggle to get stories on the air. It’s quite a contrast from a year ago when The Times and most Democrats wanted to abandon our efforts there.

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