The Senate reconvened and resumed consideration of S. 1813, the highway bill. Senators continue to work towards an agreement on amendments to the highway bill. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) failed to cut off debate on the bill. His vote on cloture fell short of the 60 votes needed, 52-44.
The Senate will recess between 5 and 6 PM for a cybersecurity briefing.
Also yesterday, the Senate voted 95-2 to confirm Mary Elizabeth Phillips to be US District Judge for Western District of Missouri and 93-4 to confirm Thomas Rice to be US District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington.
The House yesterday passed 370-39 H.R. 4105 to ensure the United States can impose duties on subsidized goods from China and Vietnam. The Senate passed the legislation on Monday. The bill, which overturns a recent court ruling. It now goes to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law. This is a mixed bag. Tariffs are indeed constitutional and a means for revenue for the U.S. Treasury, and while both China and Vietnam under communist rule and controlled labor rates, etc, have an advantage in keeping prices lower than in the U.S. However, the negative is that Americans will be paying both higher prices for goods and higher sales taxes on those goods while being faced with difficult economic times. Some conservatives argued this is a backdoor tax increase on consumers. Also, it makes you wonder how you would expect your local lender to react to you if you kicked him in the crotch. China is the lender and the U.S. is in debt to them. Also, trade wars often lead eventually to real war. Only time will tell.
The House is expected to vote on H.R. 2842 hydroelectric bill. The bill would small hydroelectricity projects that utilize existing Bureau of Reclamation canals and ditches the ability to bypass costly and time-consuming environmental reviews. A win-win, in using the run-off canals and ditches to produce power. There may be a vote on another Democrat-sponsored amendment that would continue the environmental permitting requirement for hydroelectric projects involving Bureau of Reclamation infrastructure. Then a vote on the bill itself which is expect to pass with the Republicans holding a 242-193 advantage in the House. It is unknown if the Senate is willing to vote on this common sense bill.
Gas Prices From Hell
As gas prices continue to rise, we’ve now reached the point where a typical family will pay nearly $40 more to fill up their minivan today than when President Obama first took office. In January 2009, the average price of gas was $1.83 per gallon and the price has ballooned to an average of $3.77 per gallon today. For a minivan with a 20 gallon gas tank, that works out to about $40 more to fill up today than when President Obama was inaugurated.
Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s own Energy Department doesn’t see relief in sight. According to the Los Angeles Times, “[T]he Energy Department has boosted its pump-price predictions for the peak driving season, defined as April through September, and for the full year. Peak prices will average $3.925 for a gallon of regular gasoline in the peak driving season, 5.7% higher than during last year’s peak season and up from February’s forecast of $3.62 during the peak months, according to the agency’s monthly Short-term Energy Outlook. The high is projected to be $3.96 in May. If national prices average just south of $4 a gallon during the peak season, then there will be times when the U.S. average probably will exceed $4. And California drivers can expect to pay a lot more because of the state’s cleaner-burning type of gasoline.” Little wonder, then, that The Wall Street Journal headlines a story today, “With Gas Prices Rising, Obama Feels Heat.”
Recall that just a month ago, the president was travelling around the country declaring, “$40 can make all the difference in the world.” He said at one point if the payroll tax cut were not renewed, “This makes a difference in the lives of folks all across the country in very important ways… It would be $40 less for groceries to feed your kids; it would be $40 less for the medications you depend on; $40 less to cover bills and the rent; $40 less to take care of an elder parent, or to donate to a church or a charity.”
But what about now when American families are seeing that extra $40 leave their wallets when they visit the gas station? Does President Obama still believe “People can’t afford losing $40 . . . . Not right now”?
This morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, "For the President’s part, he often says that Americans should judge him not only by his words but on his deeds. So when it comes to gas prices, I’ve pointed out that the President continues to limit offshore areas to energy production and is granting fewer leases on public land for oil drilling; has encouraged countries like Brazil to move forward with their own offshore drilling projects; continues to impose burdensome regulations on the domestic energy sector that will further drive up the cost of gasoline for the consumer; has repeatedly proposed raising taxes on the energy sector, which we all know would only drive up gas prices even higher and, finally, has flatly rejected the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. All these things help drive up the cost of gas and increase our dependence on foreign oil. So the President simply can’t claim to have a comprehensive approach to energy, because he doesn’t. And any time he says he does, the American people should remember one word: Keystone.
"The President likes to talk about fairness. But when it comes to rising gas prices, the American people don’t think it’s particularly fair that at a time when they’re struggling to fill up the tank, their own tax dollars are being used to subsidize failing solar companies of the President’s choosing, not to mention the bonuses that executives at these companies keep getting. I think most Americans are tired of reading about all the goodies this administration’s allies are getting on their dime even as the President goes around lecturing them about fairness. I’ll tell you what’s not fair: what’s not fair is that it now costs about $40 more to fill up a 20-gallon tank of gasoline than it did when this President took office, and yet this administration continues to pursue policies that would make it even worse."
Tags: Washington, D.C. US Senate, judicial appointment, transportation bill, US House, tariffs, China, Vietnam, hydroelectric dams, gas prices To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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