GOP'ers protest over energy -- best show in town

This is Day Two of the GOP revolt over energy, and the debate is taking place in a darkened House floor with no microphones, no lights and no C-SPAN cameras (on orders of the Democratic speaker). So Republican congressmen pushing for an up-or-down vote on offshore oil drilling have taken to twittering (notifying an army of folks, in 40-word bites), posting Qik and YouTube videos and corralling unsuspecting tourists to plead their case to the public.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi adjourned the House Friday over Republican objections, saying that offshore oil drilling is a false hope and that rushing back from vacation to vote on it would "mislead the American people as to thinking it's going to reduce the price at the pump." At the White House, spokesman Tony Fratto said the president would not call Congress back from vacation because Pelosi might then just gavel them back into recess again. Sort of a physical manifestation of the policy gridlock that already consumes Washington.

 

So in the meantime, the GOP congressmen keep returning to the darkened floor. The Hill newspaper reported that some have come with props: Rep. Steve King of Iowa arrived carrying a large photo of Pelosi with a caption quoting her as saying, "I am trying to save the planet." Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee came with an empty red gas can and an energy efficient light bulb.

Not to be outdone in the theatrics department, MoveOn.org folks headed up to Capitol Hill this afternoon to pass out stickers describing the GOP as the Grand Oil (instead of Old) Party. Gosh, cynics might suggest that Congress doesn't get this much attention when they're in town!

The best free show in town continues all week, and maybe throughout the month, say the Republicans.

-- Johanna Neuman

Comments

[Barbara Campbell]

It,s great to have somebody stand up for the Citizens of America Please make this the SOP and please stop using Congress to line your own nest.This message is intended for all members of Congress

[joe]

clowns what clowns, all theatre, hurry congress get us oil to drill or we wont contribute to your campaigns, do you hear republicans!isnt it trut that the oil they think they can get will only effect prices by 2 cents. what a joke these republicans are, their corperate thug energy industry, is bribeing them to get allowence to drill,,,,

[Scott]

It's about time! I'm glad to see someone in Congress is paying attention to what needs to be done. BTW: Can Congress really ban CSpan (and the public) from seeing what's going on in Washington. I hope someone with a backbone continues to cover this story. I've had enough of Democrat Operatives posing as Journalists and Media outlets.

[Don Hollingsworth]

the whole group, needs to go start all over

[Wil]

That Congress can be hijacked by a radical, activist Speaker is deplorable. This is the country reaping what was sown in the last election when the Democrats took power. This is a sad day for democracy, that our elected officials believe their personal bias trumps the will of the people. She needs to be recalled.

[Eric]

Someone should write a story about Point Thomson in Alaska. Exxon has had a lease on an oil and gas rich field since 1982 but would not explore there. Finally, the state of Alaska had enough and took Exxon to court to get the lease back so they could give it to someone who would develop the field. Finally, after almost losing the lease, Exxon is slowly starting to explore. "Use it or lose it" will get more oil to us than handing over our beaches will.

Why don't we hear stories about these unused leases?

[Grace]

off-shore oil drilling takes years to initiate, years to develop, and years to see the economic advantage. although it might take away our dependence on foreign oil, it will not have an immediate affect on gas prices. no matter how you slice it, off-shore drilling is a distraction right now. don't yell at the dems - don't yell at the GOP'ers - just look at the facts. sheesh. if these comments represent the american voter, no wonder we're screwed. try to spend five minutes a day on actually learning about an issue. see what happens when you're informed.

[JoshNarins]

The price of oil has fallen $20/bbl in the last couple weeks, the Republican Party is naturally up in arms, as I blogged recently at "Remain Calm."

They believe, as a matter of faith, for partisan purposes where necessary, that government action increases the costs to the consumer. They obviously hope that the Democrats will help recover oil profits that will undoubtedly be lost with the new, lower prices.

[Susan]

Steve King (R-IA 5) is too busy with these theatrics to debate his opponent in Iowa, a serious credible Democrat named Rob Hubler. King's excuse for refusing to debate was that the debate sponsors--the League of Women Voters and that ultra-liberal rag, the Sioux City Journal--were too partisan and not a "neutral" forum. The truth is, he wouldn't debate if it were held at the Heritage Foundation and moderated by Sen Hannity.

If I had my choice of theatrics, I would cue a guy in a chicken suit to follow him around.

[Tsar]

philtro...
Sure.. Amtrack a shining success story of nationalization if i've ever heard of one. BTW.. can you tell me what the federal and state taxes paid were during the last quarter were for the big oil companies. Are they making more or less for refining (crack spread) per barrel now or last year.

And hey.. maybe if we nationalize the oil industries they can include female circumcision as part of their health care packages.

While we're at it why not include the right to kill your daughter for not marrying your cousin.

Sorry.. but I'm not too keen on "Change"

[Charles]

So...here we have the nexus of thoughts featuring the GREEN dems on the left (along with PROGRESSIVES, might I add) and the blue-blood warhawks on the right- the Republicans, who, of course, are all for off-shore drilling and cheap shots at democrats at every turn. I hate to break it to you, but American oil drilling peaked in the 70's...there's no MAGIC well we haven't tapped yet, and the remaining bits of fossil fuels in the earth would probably do well to stay there. If you republicans were truly so keen on reducing your pain at the pump, this is a time I would IMPLORE you- get off the big oil bandwagon, and hitch your stakes to alternative fuel plans...think of the money we could ALL save if we make the move sooner than later...I'm glad the gas prices are high (admittedly, in part. since it doesn't affect me too badly) because it should jolt the American people into pushing the issue with electric cars and for added research and development dollars for the hydro-electric mobile. These are technologies that have been shuffled under the news stacks because it didn't fit a particular agenda...let's all just agree the lobbyists for big oil did their job, and we're all the ones paying for it. So let's stop paying for it!

This isn't about Barack or McCain, it's not about Bush or Gore, it's about the children and our quality of life! While we bicker along party lines (parties that really don't represent most of us, if we are all truly honest with ourselves- outside of a few affiliatory connections we've drawn for self-imposed classification when asked) the rich get richer, and the poor...well...we see how we treat the poor. Stray animals are treated with more dignity. I'm not saying let's all join around the camp fire and sing kumbaya, but I am saying let's do something that makes SENSE: FORCE the issue on alternative energy! DEMAND the government start respecting its citizens and reverse some of the harmful and shameful decisions we've made nationally for the last 20 years.

The question remains: can the American people lay these silly political AGENDA aside for the common good?

[rawrgh]

"The Republicans are right. We should be drilling our own Oil rather than sending our dollars to Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Venezualia. The Democrats are making us into a poor nation. Who has a lower poll number than Bush, the
Democrat congress."

1. we need to break our dependency on oil
2. most of our oil comes from Canada, dude.

[Westexacam]

Well the Repuplicans have to stay in Washington. If they go out into the voters they will have to answer some tough questions, like why in the
He=== have you not done anything about this for the past 8 years.

[TL]

Pelosi and Democrats go on vacation while the American public suffers. This coming November, remember what kind of vote puts Pelosi in power. She makes the communist Chinese strategies of censorship look tame, when she controls which lawmakers gets any media attention. The Democratic Party is a vote that keeps the interests of the American public off of the House agendas. The only way to get Pelosi out of the helm is to get the Democrats out of House power.

[Dave]

I found this in a blog and i believe it. Why don't jounalists repeat this every time the Republicans try to beat this off-shore drilling drum?

"Bush and McCain are cynical flip-floppers on oil drilling. Since the Reagan Administration, offshore oil drilling has been banned on most of the outer continental shelf. Until June 2008, Bush and McCain opposed lifting that ban. [New York Times] And while Bush has favored drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), he could never persuade a conservative-dominated Congress to approve that scheme. Even McCain opposes it. [New York Times]

New drilling wouldn’t bring the first drop of oil to market for at least 10 years—and they know it. Normally, it takes years—to set up operations, dig test wells, and build a functioning oil rig—before any oil goes to market. On top of that, all of the oil drilling ships in the world are booked for the next five years. [New York Times] So it would take 10 years before any oil is pumped out of new offshore wells, and about 20 years before those wells would reach peak capacity. The Bush Administration admits there could be no oil production in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge until 2018 and production would not peak until 2027. [U.S. Department of Energy]

Even at peak capacity in 20 years, new oil drilling won’t lower gas prices—and they know it. There is simply too little oil in these offshore areas to affect global supply. Bush’s own Department of Energy shows that by the year 2025, ANWR drilling would lower crude oil prices by only 75 cents per barrel (which amounts to about 2 cents a gallon at the pump). [U.S. Department of Energy] The latest government estimate for new offshore wells estimates that, even in 20 years, they would pump only about one-fifth as much oil as ANWR and therefore “any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.” [U.S. Department of Energy]"

[Tony Jordan]

In response to posting by: Dave | August 04, 2008 at 12:59 PM, this blog shows that about half of the people in this country are dumb as bricks because they keep falling for stupid antics that the Republicans pull when desparate. But we have to be considerate of their opinions and hopefully they will eventually see the errors in their thinking :)

[Danny]

I don't think there's a single person in the House or Senate that is really interested in serving the public. All these self-serving, power-hungry morons can think of is how to get re-elected. Partisan politics are destroying our country's future! If you only see things in terms of Republican vs. Democrat then you're a part of the problem. Keep an open mind; compromise! Energy independence through green & technological innovation is the only way to go, but tanking our economy by putting ridiculous caps on offshore drilling and not allowing us to be competitive is imbecilic.

[Dave Diaz (Proud American for life)]

Interesting, the comment about electric vehicles, do you people not think about the actual electricity draw it would take to power all those electric cars. That electricity has to be generated somehow. Let's face it, petrolium powered vehicles are here to stay at least for the short term. Just wait to see what science comes up with in the next 20 odd years. The pace of technology is sure to come up with an alternative solution. I don't think it's electric. The amount of lead and sulfuric acid in the electric car will not be beneficial to the environment, so now the same issue is at hand, except it's electric. Ethanol power also drains the resources to create the fuel alternative, do a little research folks. Have a great day.

[TL]

The oil industry makes a straight percentage profit on its sales. When sales go up, so does the profit. Liberals don't understand this. Meanshile, the American public suffers, not only due to energy costs, but the associated rises in costs of everything else because of it. Liberals were counting on fixed numbers of cents per gallon of gas sold for tax revenues. When price of oil goes up, the gallons decrease of gas sold. At the same time, the fixed numbers of cents per gallon buy even less because of inflation. Again, liberals don't understand this and blame it on something else.
Pelosi won't let anything meaningful get onto the House agenda. Are we glad that Republicans aren't the House majority anymore?
Obama gets photo ops with Pelosi. He's failed to demonstrate real leadership when the American people need it the most.

[Randy]

Democrats don't actually want an energy "fix", at least until Obama gets elected.

As for the IQ of the "average" citizen, well, destroying the education of Americans is why we have the Dept of Education. They have done an admirable job, and are due a round of applause.

Energy problems? Why, lets call on the Dept. of Energy. If anyone can make problems, it is they.

I am continually amazed that any sane human being can consider any of those currently in power as being intelligent, talented and most importantly UNENCUMBERED enough to make any change what so ever.
It's like you think you matter.

What a spectacle.

not v/r,
RSC

[TL]

Liberals aren't against Big Oil. They're against America. Exxon Mobil takes the heat. But the Liberals don't turn the heat on the foreign oil companies (eg BP, Shell, etc) who make just as much profit. Why don't liberals turn on the heat on the non-Americans? Because liberals hate America. See how little Pelosi and company care. They're on recess now, while Americans watch their dollars shrivel up and their nation get driven into the ground. Remember that oil was only $60 per barrel when the Democrats took over the House.

[Steve]

"If you are under 13 years of age you may read this message board, but you may not participate."

Thats funny! Being that the liberals who post on this forum all sound and act like they are under 13.

If we actually began to drill for oil here in the states or off shore, the current price of oil would tumble, because OPEC would increase production dramatically with the hope of preventing us from drilling.

[jjpya]

First of all...the planet will be fine...the human race MAY suffer from global warming at some point in the future if we are not careful, but to keep America from drilling when other countries are more than willing to do it does not make much sense. Our protectionism in this corner of the world will not change the global climate at this point. Second, oil companies are taxed, just not as much as democrats would like. Third, the more we tax them, the less profits they will make, which means that shareholder value will ultimately drop and/or foreign oil companies will become more influential and the American companies will begin to falter. Finally, in response to Sebastian...Shell is an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell which is based in the UK and the Netherlands, and BP is another multinational company but it originally stands for British Petroleum. Try to get the facts straight before going off and calling republicans satan. I am an independent voter.

[TimL]

It never ceases to amaze me at how uneducated the vast majority of the republican party is. Can you guys at least do a little research into your own party before making statements about another party you know so little about?

The economy, Gas price, Value of the dollar, World opinion of America, Etc etc etc... Has all dropped off significantly due to the leadership of the Republican party. The Republican party sells out America to Foreign Business and countries like China.

Please stop preaching things you seem to know nothing about. And please open your eyes to the corrupt, stinking, cesspool the Republican party has become. I for one have already turned my back on them and wish I would have figured it out 8 years ago.

[JamesInSeattle]

The Democrats are putting themselves into the dangerous position of having to explain why they are blocking drilling for more oil. Experience has shown that the average person will not be swayed by subtle arguments like "the oil companies already have untapped land they can drill". This is why the Republicans trounce the Democrats time and again - because the Replublicans know better than to put themselves in a position where they have to explain nuances to the general public.