Tuesday evening, Democrats passed another non-energy bill masquerading as an energy bill. Immediately afterwards, Nancy Pelosi was spinning what had happened:

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the bill “represents a new direction in energy policy” and a “bold step forward that will end our dependence on foreign oil” by using billions of dollars collected in taxes on large oil companies to promote alternative fuels and energy efficiency.

I’d like hearing Ms. Pelosi explain how opening a tiny sliver of the OCS while increasing taxes on oil companies will give the oil companies an incentive to increase production.

Speaker Pelosi says that this bill “represents a new direction in energy policy.” Perhaps Ms. Pelosi can explain why House Democrats had to pass a second energy bill after passing one about this time last year.

Republicans called the drilling measure a ruse to provide political cover to Democrats feeling pressure to support more drilling at a time of high gas prices.

“How much new drilling do we get out of this bill? It’s zero. Just zero,” declared House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio. “It’s a hoax on the American people. This is intended for one reason…so the Democrats can say we voted on energy.”

Boehner is right. This bill isn’t about setting us on the path to independence from foreign oil. This bill is only about political cover. That’s the worst kind of bill. The bad news for Pelosi’s Democrats is that the Right Blogosphere knows that this bill is a total scam. We know that the bill doesn’t provide a financial incentive to open up drilling. We know that this legislation was purposely designed that way so that states wouldn’t opt into the plan.

What’s worse is that we know that this bill is meaningless. We know that because, according to Mary Landrieu, the Senate won’t adopt legislation if it doesn’t include a revenue-sharing provision. We know that this bill doesn’t have that provision because of how Nick Rahall defended it:

Rahall has defended the bill’s provision that permits states to permit drilling within 50 miles of a coastline, saying even though no revenues are pledged to them, benefits would be manifested in jobs creation, additional equipment purchases and the like. Moreover, the measure encompasses renewable and alternative sources of energy, with a strong emphasis on clean coal technology, Rahall said last weekend.

It’s worth noting that this is just the latest in “new direction” legislation passed by Pelosi’s Democrats. Thus far, their “new direction” legislation hasn’t been met with high job approval ratings for Pelosi and her minions.

Ms. Pelosi and her minions have had such little impact on people’s lives that their approval ratings are in Nixon territory.

The only benchmarks that energy legislation that matters are easily identified:

1) Will the legislation bring down gas prices?
2) Will the legislation bring down the cost of heating a home?

If it doesn’t meet those two tests, then the bill is junk.

Even before the House vote, the White House said President Bush was prepared to veto the measure should it reach his desk. An administration statement said the bill would “stifle development” of offshore energy resources by essentially making permanent drilling bans within the 50-mile coastal buffer, while imposing new taxes on the largest oil companies.

Thank You, Mr. President. Thank you for bringing sanity to the table. Thank you for telling Democrats that they’ll have to put together a real energy bill that expands drilling. Thank you for sending the signal to Senate Republicans that the Gang of 20 legislation has to be serious legislation that meets the aforementioned criteria. That’s if it’s ever written.

We The People demand that the House and Senate write legislation that actually helps We The People. Anything less is unacceptable.

Technorati Tags: Gas Crisis, Nancy Pelosi, Nick Rahall, Political Cover, Spin, Gang of 20, Mary Landrieu, Revenue Sharing, John Boehner, OCS, Drilling, President Bush, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

1. why do we need any of these bill, the ban expires shortly and congress doesn’t have authority without a new bill to stop any drilling.

   Comment by Ron K — September 17, 2008 @ 6:20 am

2. Exactly right.

   Comment by Gary Gross — September 17, 2008 @ 8:37 am