Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid again showed his inability to lead and acted again like a dictator and blocked Republicans from offering any amendments on the Democrats’ energy speculation bill (S. 3268) -- the number one issue facing the nation. Reid also filed cloture on the bill, setting up a cloture vote for Friday. Reid also blocked amendments and filed cloture on the housing bill (H.R. 3221), which was cleared by the House yesterday. A cloture vote is likely Friday or Saturday. Reid also filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the LIHEAP bill.
Comments & News Sources: Amazingly, with gas prices exceeding $4 per gallon and Americans citing gas and energy prices as the most important issue in the country, Senate Democrats moved to try to shut down debate on an energy bill. Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decided that the debate on energy would be the Democrats’ way or no way and “filled the amendment tree,” thus preventing Republicans from offering any amendments on energy. Since the Democrats’ bill is so narrow—it only looks to rewrite rules for energy traders—Reid’s move will prevent votes on offshore drilling, on opening oil shale to exploration, on opening ANWR for drilling, on expanding nuclear power, on incentives for plug-in hybrids, and numerous other issues. As The Wall Street Journal put it, “Reid has decided that deliberation is too taxing for ‘the world’s greatest deliberative body.’”
It’s no secret what’s going on here, though. The Wall Street Journal gets it exactly right in its editorial: “Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and other liberal leaders on Capitol Hill are gripped by cold-sweat terror. If they permit a vote on offshore drilling, they know they will lose when Blue Dogs and oil-patch Democrats defect to the GOP position of increasing domestic energy production. So the last failsafe is to shut down Congress.” In other words, the representatives for the majority of the people in the U.S. would accomplish what the people need and want verses the personal and limited desires of Pelosi, Reid and other liberal leaders on Capitol Hill.
Even the liberal leaning The New York Times points out that Democrats’ fear of drilling votes goes beyond closing down floor debate: “Democrats, worried about defections in the ranks, are scrambling to avoid votes on expanded drilling and this week canceled a series of Senate committee sessions that could have provided an opening for Republicans. In the House, Democrats are increasingly bringing legislation to the floor under rules that deny Republicans the chance to counter with a drilling proposal.”
“Senate Republicans have threatened to block nearly all other bills pending before the August recess if Democrats refuse to vote with them on expanding offshore drilling,” according to The Hill. Senate Republicans are committed to legislating on energy and gas prices in a serious and substantive way, and are asking for a full and open debate. The Senate has plenty of time to debate and amend a bill that would let us “find more and use less” energy.
Sen. McConnell said this morning:
When will the Democrat Leadership listen to the 77% of Americans who want us to use our own domestic resources to drive down the price of gas and say ‘Yes, we can.’ When will they listen to more than a dozen of their own members and say ‘Yes, we can.' . . . Americans never imagined they would be paying these prices at the pump. But if the Democrat Leadership has its way, Americans will be paying even more in the years to come. And when that time comes, and there’s no one else to blame, they’ll look around and see no one but themselves. Then Americans will know who to blame. And I can tell you this: it won’t be the speculators.
Tags: domestic drilling, gas prices, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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