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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 01:36 PM
Original message
GOP talks energy in dark House chamber after House adjourns for recess
Edited on Fri Aug-01-08 01:37 PM by babylonsister
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gop-talks-energy-in-dark-house-chamber-2008-08-01.html

GOP talks energy in dark House chamber
By Jackie Kucinich
Posted: 08/01/08 01:52 PM


The microphones are off, the C-SPAN cameras are no longer running in the House chamber, but all is not silent as a group of House Republicans has stayed behind to continue to speak about energy issues.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) began the protest that included about 20 GOPers, who chose not to make the traditional mad dash for the airport following adjournment. Instead, they gave speeches on the empty floor to protest that Congress went into recess and to raise awareness of what they say is an unwillingness by Democrats to take up legislation to deal with the nation’s energy crisis.

“There were about 40 people lined up to speak, and Democrats adjourned to keep us from doing the special orders,” Westmoreland said. “I was looking around and trying to figure out what we were going to do and just decided to go down to the well and started talking to the people in the galleries.”

Among the GOP members who lined up to speak were Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio), Minority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.), Reps. Michael Burgess (Texas), John Campbell (Calif.), Eric Cantor (Va.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), John Carter (Texas), John Culberson (Texas), Charles Dent (Pa.), Jeff Fortenberry (Neb.), Virginia Foxx (N.C.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Duncan Hunter (Calif.), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), Mike Pence (Ind.), Tom Price (Ga.), Ted Poe (Texas), Adam Putnam (Fla.), Bill Sali (Idaho), John Shadegg (Ariz.), John Shimkus (Ill.) and Tim Walberg (Mich.).

Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), chalked the display up to politics. At one point the lights went off but were later turned back on. The microphones were also eventually turned on, according to staff present. In addition, the Capitol Police tried to shut down the press gallery at one point but Shadegg ensured that it remained open.

“Republicans are too scared to go home to face their constituents after voting against bills to force Big Oil companies to use it or lose it, demand that the president free our oil from the government stockpile and crack down on speculators,” Elshami said. “In a week where Exxon Mobil made the largest quarterly profits by a U.S. corporation, Republicans are staying in Washington to argue that Big Oil deserves more taxpayer lands.”

He added, “That sums up their priorities.”

**********************************
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16407.html

snip//

The point of the spectacle is … well, it’s not quite clear what the point is. Republicans apparently want some tourists to know that they support drilling the coasts for oil. It wouldn’t lower the price of gas, and wouldn’t help consumers in any way, but darn it all, they really want to talk about drilling anyway.

When the lights went out in the chamber a second time, Republicans “cheered,” apparently perceiving a debate in the dark (literally and figuratively) works to their advantage. Or something.

Apparently, the latest update indicates that GOP leaders are looking for a “bullhorn.”

Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) told reporters, “I love this. Congress can be so boring… This is a kick.”

It’s hard to overstate how truly ridiculous these unhinged fools really are. One wonders how long it will take for the Republican Party to rediscover the value of acting like grown-ups.
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Bok_Tukalo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 01:41 PM
Response to Original message
1. Republicans are winning the argument
And that is all that matters.
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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 01:44 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. What exactly have they won? nt
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wuushew Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 01:54 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. How do you figure? It is summer news season + the Olympics are nearly here
can you please elaborate?
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Bok_Tukalo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 02:31 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. Elaborating
Gasoline is floating around 4 bucks a gallon and the House just adjourned with no action taken other than an attempt at forcing exploitation of existing leases; which failed.

That is a gift to the Republicans. Not only was the issue being pushed by the Democrats (existing lease exploitation) relatively complicated, it was never effectively defended against the counter argument. Now we have our Legislative Branch, the branch of our government with the lowest approval rating, jetting off for their summer vacation time like the Iraqi Parlaiment in the middle of the surge while people like the governor of Maine are practically declaring an emergency for the winter coming down the pike.

The House leadership is failing not only to address the issue in a real sense as public officials, they are failing to see it as an issue at all and living off the mistaken belief that the public's discontent with GW Bush is all they need to be absolved of responsibility for the governing of this nation.

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KamaAina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 03:19 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. What about the attempt to release oil from the SPR?
the one thing that could have an actual, immediate impact at the pump.

Which party blocked that in order to try to force a vote on offshore drilling? Why, that'd be the repukes.

As usual, they're only "winning the argument" because we're not making the argument. :eyes:
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monmouth Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 01:51 PM
Response to Original message
3. Hope they turned the AC off too, it's hot in DC...lol..n/t
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jdlh8894 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 02:42 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. Wonder what Congress did BEFORE AC?
Maybe they actually sweated a bit?
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KamaAina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 03:17 PM
Response to Reply #6
7. They pretty much took a summer-long recess
come to think of it, maybe that's not such a bad idea :eyes:
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progdonkey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 06:20 PM
Response to Reply #7
11. reminds me of a comment by Molly Ivins...
Edited on Fri Aug-01-08 06:21 PM by progdonkey
She once said that the worst thing to happen to American politics was the invention of the air conditioner, because before then the heat and humidity kept Southerners from getting up to too much trouble. You can't really plan a war in Iraq and a "culture war" against gays and abortion if you're sitting on your porch fanning yourself in 100 degree heat, trying not to pass out.

Of course, she said it better, but that was the gist of it. ;-)
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babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 03:52 PM
Response to Original message
9. It's almost 5pmET, and they're still there?! On m$nbc. Ha! nt
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spin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 04:05 PM
Response to Original message
10. If the price of gasoline skyrockets before the election...
say to 5 or 6 dollars a gallon, the Republicans will benefit at the polls. This might easily happen if Israel decides to attack Iran and the Strait of Hormuz closes down for a month or two.

My biggest fear is that Nancy Pelosi's stopping debate and votes on energy policy will be viewed by voters as a reason to vote for Republicans. True she is opposed to off shore drilling and "wants to save the planet", but she doesn't seem to realize that if we don't drill for the short term offshore near the U.S. we have to buy oil from foreign countries with very little respect for the environment.

We know there is a large off limits oil field in the Gulf of Mexico and many experts say that because we already have infrastructure in the Gulf, we can begin to see new oil in as little as 18 months. Other oil rich areas may require as long as 10 years to become productive, but the longer we wait the longer it will be before these fields will come online.

The American people are becoming upset with politicians who merely play political games and do little or nothing to address the problems that are emptying their wallets. Perhaps we need to stop all this bickering between the two parties and try some bi-partisan approaches. The people are noticing, which is why the job approval rate for Congress is in the single digits.

CONGRESS’S approval rating, always pretty low, recently hit a truly dismal 9% in one survey: under the leadership of Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the legislative arm is considerably more unpopular than even George Bush’s executive one.
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11848416

But there is hope:

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of 10 senators offered an energy plan Friday aimed at producing more domestic oil via offshore drilling, reducing energy prices, and aiding the troubled economy.

The plan also would require automobiles to be more fuel efficient and would provide research money for improved batteries to move away from petroleum-products in cars: the plan calls for 85 percent of vehicles to run on non-petroleum-based fuel in 20 years.

Senators said the bill also would promote more renewable energy sources and nuclear energy, as well as carbon capture techniques to reduce greenhouse gas production through tax and other incentives.

"This bill would do more to lower gas prices at the pump" than any other plan, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference. "Any change in production would send a powerful signal to markets" that would ease back on speculation that primarily Democrats have blamed as one reason for sky-high oil prices.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,395942,00.html

If these politicians succeed in their efforts to produce a comprehensive energy policy, maybe we can build on this effort to encourage more bipartisan activity to solve many of the very serious problems we face.






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PDJane Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 06:21 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. spin, spin, spin........
the only way more oil will help the domestic market is:

If the rules are changed to make sure that domestic oil is earmarked for the domestic market.

Refineries keep pace.

You completely disregard the effects of global warming.



More oil might help IF, and only if, it is used to help ease the way to use of renewables.
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spin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-01-08 07:45 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. Exactly...
Pumping more oil is only a short term solution, but unfortunately a necessary one in order to save our economy until we can move to alternative energy.

And the profits from pumping that oil can be taxed to finance the move to green energy. We have the technology today but the infrastructure will take a while. I like the wind turbine idea for those areas of the country with adequate wind. Solar energy looks very promising in those areas with lots of sun, and as the price of solar panels come down and their efficiency increases could provide electricity for individual houses with the surplus pumped back into the grid. Geothermal energy is currently used in California and with new deep drilling techniques could be used throughout the country. Wave turbines located in the Gulf Stream off of Florida might well provide much of the electricity Florida uses. These are just a few of the new sources for clean energy.
The possibilities are fascinating, but we need to start developing them on a large scale now. Big Oil will try to resist and then try to land the contracts to develop the new energy sources. We have to be very careful, as Big Oil will try to slow development as much as they can.

One problem with drilling for oil right now is that the price might drop so dramatically that we hold off on development of the alternative energy sources. We definitely have to avoid this mistake. We had a promising start to developing green energy years ago in the gas crisis of the 70's. We foolishly gave up when the price per barrel dropped.

But one thing is for sure, if our politicians continue to drag their feet and do nothing year after year, the price of gasoline will soar and the climate will continue to warm. We all elect people to represent us and to solve our problems. If they continue to merely generate hot air we have the ability to hand them pink slips and try a new batch. When they begin to see that this is a possibility, I believe we may finally see a truly comprehensive energy policy that's good for the country and the environment.

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