Today in Washington D. C. - July 31, 2008 - NO ENERGY RELIEF

The Senate, later today, the Senate is likely to vote on the Consumer Product Safety Commission overhaul (H.R. 4040) the Higher Education Act reauthorization (H.R. 4137) conference reports, which are privileged. Yesterday, Republicans blocked Senate Democrats’ fourth and fifth attempts to change the subject from energy. Democrats failed to get cloture on motions to proceed to a media shield law (which offer no protection to bloggers) and on their second attempt this week on a tax extenders bill, both times by votes of 51-43. Sen. Harry Reid also filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the Defense authorization bill (S.3001). A cloture vote could occur Friday morning.

From Senate & News Sources: As August recess approaches, it appears that Democrats in Congress are fundamentally unwilling to address the number one issue facing Americans: high energy and gas prices. CNN has a new poll out finding that a large majority of Americans--69%--support offshore oil and natural gas drilling. Yet Democrats in both chambers seem perfectly willing to skip town without allowing a single vote on producing more American energy.

Politico noted yesterday, “With just two days left before recess, a flurry of last-minute negotiations seems to have the Senate no closer to a deal on legislation to address high gas prices.” Roll Call details today that Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell was prepared to accept Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Monday offer of votes on four GOP amendments to the energy speculation, but the “Democrats rejected McConnell’s overture, saying there would be no deal on amendments until Republicans ended their filibuster of a tax-extender bill.”

If that’s true, it means there’s no way that the Democrat leadership is going to allow action on the No. 1 issue in America today. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said, “What [Harry Reid is] doing is he’s changing the game. Pulling back on the four amendments . . . they see more political advantage in not having a solution and trying to go home and blame Republicans than in actually trying to work with us to get something.”

The House situation is no better. Roll Call writes, “[T]he House limped toward the recess with yet another energy bill — this one on regulating speculators — falling short of the two-thirds required for bills on the suspension calendar. Republicans continued to rally their troops to blame Democrats for proposing bills that they labeled ‘excuses’ for the majority to avoid votes on oil drilling. . . . [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi showed no signs of buckling, calling another push by President Bush for expanded offshore drilling to lower gas prices a ‘hoax’ that ‘is not worthy of the serious debate we must have to relieve the pain of consumers at the pump.’”

The Democrat leaders in both chambers are desperate to run out the clock without taking votes on drilling or anything else to increase domestic energy supplies. Sen, Robert Byrd (D-WV) admitted “it became clear that an attempt to add language to the [second] supplemental, repealing the two-decade-old ban on offshore oil and gas drilling would be successful,” so he cancelled last week’s markup of the bill. Reid has filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the Defense authorization bill which is his sixth attempt to change the subject and get the Senate off of the topic of energy.

The Democrat leadership's scramble to avoid votes maybe motivated in the fact that more Democrats are open to the idea of proposals like offshore drilling. It was reported that liberal Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) joined with Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) yesterday to offer an energy package that includes offshore drilling. And in an interview with the very liberal former Sen. Gary Hart (D-CO), The Denver Post reports, “Hart also said he considered it a possibility that Obama could support offshore domestic drilling as one piece of a much larger plan that focused on conservation, expanded drilling on land already permitted for exploration and development of clean energy.”

Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) said “It’s like Lucy with the football,” with Democrat leaders yanking away any possibility of voting on drilling at the last second. Apparently Democrat leaders in Congress are so obstinate in their opposition to drilling for more oil that they are content to let Americans continue to pay $4 per gallon for gasoline. Is it any wonder Congress' approval rating is in the toilet?

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