The Senate reconvened -- who knows where they will go today! Last night, Republicans again prevented Democrats dodging the energy issue by moving to an omnibus of popular bills being held by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) over spending concerns. Reid had specifically chosen popular bills and bills with GOP cosponsors to lure votes away. Also yesterday, cloture was filed on a journalist shield bill (S. 2035) as well as on another attempt at a package of expiring tax breaks that includes tax increases as offsets (S. 3335).
From Senate & News Sources: The Wall Street Journal reports today, “U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) offered to bend to Republican demands to allow Senate votes on plans to expand offshore oil and gas drilling, but his proposal may not go far enough to end a bitter partisan gridlock over energy policy.” After giving Senate Republicans a take-it-or-leave-it offer of a vote on only one GOP amendment, Reid on Monday suddenly offered votes on up to four amendments, including on offshore drilling and nuclear power proposals. Clearly, the pressure on Democrats, and their failure to avoid an energy debate, has forced Reid to move toward Republicans on this issue.
According to Politico, “The vote [yesterday] sent Reid into one of his trademark tirades on the Senate floor, as he basically accused Republicans of voting against people with strokes, people in wheelchairs and those suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease.” Reid’s rhetoric notwithstanding, as Sen, McConnell said last week, the bottom line is that the price of gasoline “is the number-one issue in the country. This issue is washing over the Democrats. They’re scrambling like crazy to try to figure out how to avoid it. There is no avoiding it.” However, The Hill reports, there is still significant opposition among Democrats to more domestic drilling, even to very limited proposals being floated by other Democrats.
In stark contrast, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) laid out the Republican vision for energy legislation in an op-ed for the Las Vegas Review-Journal today. Sen. Ensign writes:
For many months, Republicans have been working to provide relief from the burden of gas prices on all facets of American life. We’ve been focused on a three-pronged approach: boosting renewable and alternative energy, encouraging energy efficiency, and growing our American energy supply. . . .Growing our American energy supply is critical to this equation. We have to infuse American energy into our marketplace -- it will lower fuel prices and remove us from the grip of countries that hate us but to whom we pay $700 billion a year for oil. . . . Unfortunately, Democrats have answered one of the greatest challenges facing our nation with flawed ideas that aren't worth a tank of gas but would cost us dearly. . . . Enough is enough. I recently took to the Senate floor and asked my colleagues across the aisle: ‘At what price per gallon will you finally step aside and allow us to focus on real solutions?’ At long last, is it $4 per gallon?
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