This morning’s Washington Times features an op-ed by John Boehner. Here’s the text of Leader Boehner’s op-ed:

The House Republicans’ unprecedented nationwide gas-prices protest is now in its third full week. My Republican colleagues and I have vowed to continue the historic uprising, in Washington and in communities across the country, until the House returns to session for a vote on the American Energy Act, our “all of the above” plan to lower gas prices. Whether that means ending the protest tomorrow or next month is up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat. While the speaker used a radio address last weekend to unveil yet another flawed plan that will do little to lower gas prices, she remained silent about bringing Congress back to Washington from its summer recess to deal with the No. 1 issue on the minds of the American people.

As the title of her new book suggests, the Speaker knows she had the power to avoid this uprising altogether. Rather than working with Republicans to bolster America’s energy production, conservation and innovation, on Aug. 1, Democrats voted to adjourn Congress for a five-week break while American families and small businesses were left hanging in the balance. Refusing to be silenced, Republicans stayed on the House floor after the Democrats’ left town to continue promoting our strategy for energy independence to those watching on television. The Speaker responded by dimming the lights, shutting down the cameras and turning off the microphones. (continue reading post »)

It wasn’t that long ago that Rep. Mark Udall, (D-CO), was among the most reliable anti-drilling congressmen. With gas hovering near the $4/gallon average nationally. That’s suddenly changed. Let’s start by looking at Rep. Udall’s record:

He’s voted to:

• Block drilling for American oil in Alaska or off shore at least nine times.
• Deny tax deductions for production of U.S. oil and gas, thereby putting American companies at a financial disadvantage versus their competitors in the Middle East, Russia and South America.
• Declare oil cartels like OPEC to be in violation of U.S. antitrust law, even though most high school seniors, not to mention Members of Congress, are smart enough to know that our laws do not apply to foreign oil companies.
• Oppose making abandoned military bases available for construction of new oil refineries, oblivious to the reality no new American oil refineries have been constructed since 1976, increasing our dependence on foreign refineries.

In other words, he’s been a reliable vote for environmental extremists. That’s suddenly changed now that polls show he was on the losing side of the biggest domestic issue this year. Notice that I didn’t say he changed when gas prices skyrocketed. It wasn’t until today that Rep. Udall started talking about drilling as the only way we could bring oil prices down.

Notice that Rep. Udall didn’t speak out when oil prices hit their peak. He stayed silent when prices started dropping, too. The thing that triggered Rep. Udall’s change in attitude was a poll showing his 7 point lead over Bob Schaffer disappear into thin air.

Suddenly, Rep. Udall morphed into Oil Rig Mark. There’s nothing more disgusting or demeaining than seeing a politician abandon their principles. This article says that just 2 months ago, Udall joined with other Colorado Democrats to protest the Bush administration’s letting of leases for oil drilling. They complained that President Bush ignored their wishes.

Let’s remember that the Bush administration couldn’t auction of these leases if Congress hadn’t codified that into law.

Let’s hope that Coloradans reject Rep. Udall’s politics of oppotunism and elect Bob Schaffer.

Technorati Tags: Mark Udall, Environmentalist, Drilling, Polls, Bob Schaffer, President Bush, OPEC, Litigation, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Until now, I’ve tried focusing on what Republicans should do to press the energy fight to Democrats. I’ve focused on deficiencies in the House Democrats’ plans. It’s time to turn our attention to the Gang of 10 disaster that Lindsey Graham, Bob Corker, Johnny Isakson, Saxby Chambliss and John Thune signed onto. A contact of mine on Capital Hill sent me an outline of the Gang of 10’s bill. Let’s go through that outline. Here’s the part that bothers me the most:

Rather than using revenues from increased oil and gas production to fund competitive research into alternative fuels as proposed by House Republicans, the Gang of Ten proposal includes what the Wall Street Journal calls “a Democratic giveaway” that is funded by $84 billion in tax increases.

Why on God’s green earth would a Republican agree to these tax increases? Graham, Corker, Isakson, Chambliss and Thune couldn’t have been thinking when they signed onto this. God help us if they were.

Here’s another disastrous portion of the bill: (continue reading post »)

When the energy debate got intense, Speaker Pelosi spoke for the Democrats, calling drilling a hoax on the American people. Just three days ago, when the American people told pollsters in strong majorities that they favored drilling, Democrat Pelosi told Larry King that she’s open to voting on drilling…sorta. It’s a different day and a different tweak of her policy:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday firmly rejected the idea of a House vote solely on the issue of offshore oil drilling, calling it “a hoax on the American people” backed by oil companies.

Instead, she said, she wants Congress to tackle a compromise comprehensive energy plan that would include alternative energy sources and curtailing tax breaks for oil companies.

“You want to drill? We want the royalties for the American people, and we want that to pay for renewable energy resources,” the San Francisco Democrat said in an interview for KQED television’s weekly news show, “This Week in Northern California.” “We want to connect all that together.”

Let’s first stipulate that Democrats aren’t dealing from a position of strength here. They’ve seen the polling. They’ve seen that the majority of independents and conservatives favor drilling. They’ve seen the polling that shows almost 60 percent of the people said that they’d vote for someone who is pro-drilling instead of those that don’t favor drilling. (continue reading post »)

According to this article, the compromise bill brought forth by the Gang of Ten has just given Sen. Obama the advantage in the energy debate. It’s true that Senate Republicans have done something stupid in compromising with desperate Democrats. That doesn’t mean that their bill tips this issue in Sen. Obama’s favor. Far from it. Here’s where the mask slips:

The $84 billion New Energy Reform Act would fund an effort, which its backers liken to the Apollo moon landing program, to transform the nation’s cars and trucks, with a goal of having 85 percent of new vehicles on the road run on nonpetroleum-based fuels within 20 years.

Consumers don’t care about whether 85 percent of the vehicles will be using “nonpetroleum-based fuels within 20 years.” They care about cheaper gas today. Something that Mr. Keating isn’t factoring in are some of the provisions in the New ERA. If Sen. Obama wants to hitch his energy wagon to this bill, then he’s itching for some trouble. Here’s one of the provisions that won’t be popular:

Responsible, Targeted Domestic Energy Production
To help meet our energy needs until our economy transitions to advanced alternative fuel vehicles, the New Era bill increases domestic energy production in environmentally responsible ways. The legislation:
• Provides a CO2 sequestration credit for use in enhanced oil recovery to increase production from existing oil wells while reducing greenhouse gas emissions;

TRANSLATION: New ERA imposes a cap and trade provision.

Let’s remember that the cap and trade bill couldn’t make it on its own. In fact, it collapsed because the American people hated the idea of a job-killing tax increase. Democrats refuse to let that die so they insisted that Cap and Trade be included in this ‘compromise bill.’ The 5 Republicans in the Gang of Ten should be ashamed of themselves for agreeing to this provision.

Here’s another provision that’s sure to make people angry: (continue reading post »)

I witnessed something on live TV that got my attention and then some. CNN’s Ali Velshi interviewed Michele Bachmann, who represents me in Congress, and Frank Pallone, (D-NJ). I’ve chronicled this week and last how Democrats are being forced to pass a drilling bill. When Speaker Pelosi told Larry King that Republicans can have a vote on drilling, I knew that there’d be a ton of strings attached. I was proved right when the Hill Magazine talked about all the poison pills Democrats would insist on.

What caught my attention during Velshi’s interview was that Rep. Pallone said “Democrats are trying to get people to stop using fossil fuels.” He said this without hesitation or qualification. Twice.

He then lapsed back into the standard Democratic talking points about Speaker Pelosi saying that they could drill in NPR-A and that Republicans said no to that.

Rep. Bachmann’s response was brilliant, saying that drilling in the NPR-A was fine but that drilling in ANWR would leave a much tinier footprint. Rep. bachmann pointed out that it’s only 70+ miles from the start of the Alaskan pipeline to where they’d drill in ANWR. (continue reading post »)

I never thought that Nancy Pelosi’s admission that she’d allow a vote on drilling during last night’s interview with Larry King was a genuine offer. Tonight, I’m proven right in my suspicion. According to this article, Pelosi and the Democrat majority plan on throwing one poison pill into the bill after another. Here’s what the Hill is reporting:

A leadership aide said many of the energy proposals that were put forward by Democrats in July would wind up in the package. Many of them won majority House support but failed because of a parliamentary maneuver used to block GOP amendments.

In the CNN interview, she indicated that drilling, which she’s opposed for years, could be accompanied by “great things” like expansion of wind power, solar energy and biofuels. She hinted that the package could include the Democratic leadership’s “use it or lose it” plan to force drillers to produce their existing federal leases, more regulation of greenhouse gases, and that the federal government should get more money for the oil.

It’s time we started playing hardball.

Republicans must insist on doing the CR first. A CR is inevitable because Democrats haven’t started working on the appropriations bills.

Republicans must insist that the CR be stripped of any language that keeps any of the moratoria intact. That’s the critical first step because it says that Democrats are acting on a good faith basis. If they aren’t willing to take that first step, then Republicans should start a nationwide advertising campaign asking why Democrats won’t lift the drilling moratoria. (continue reading post »)

Throughout the energy debate, Democrats have called the Republicans’ plan to Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less some derogatory names. Sen. Obama called it a scheme. Speaker Pelosi called it a hoax in this article. Here’s how Speaker Pelosi tried justifying Democrats’ refusal to allow a vote on drilling in ANWR and on the OCS:

That hoax is unworthy of the serious debate we must have to relieve the pain of consumers at the pump and to promote energy independence.

Proof that the Republicans’ persistence is paying off came last night when Larry King interviewed Speaker Pelosi on Larry King Live. Here’s what she told Larry:

“They have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas,” Pelosi said. “We can do that. We can have a vote on that.”

She indicated such a vote would have to be part of a larger package that included other policies, like releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which she said could bring down prices in a matter of days.

“But it has to be part of something that says we want to bring immediate relief to the public and is not just a hoax on them,” Pelosi continued.

Friends, that’s what election year fear sounds like. The Democratic leadership has ridiculed drilling from the minute the debate began. The Democratic leadership has said drilling won’t bring down prices until a decade down the road. The Democratic leadership has said that the Republicans’ protest is proof that Republicans are owned by Big Oil. (Nevermind the fact that Democrats are owned by the Environutters.) (continue reading post »)

This article does a great job of highlighting the Democrats’ tired arguments. Check out these arguments from Rep. Gwen Moore, (D-Milwaukee):

Wisconsin’s Democrats, however, say Republicans have repeatedly blocked energy proposals that could lower the price of gas. They also say offshore drilling would not do enough to bring gas prices down, while risking the environment and the tourism and fishing industries that rely on the ocean.

“There’s absolutely nothing we’re going to discuss in August that will bring prices down tomorrow except what we’ve already done,” said Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee).

Moore notes the House has passed a number of energy bills over Republican objections, including one to increase fuel-efficiency standards in vehicles and another to temporarily suspend filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to lower gas prices.

“What is it they want to vote on?” she asks, ticking off a series of Democratic proposals that have met GOP opposition.

Those include rolling back tax breaks for Big Oil, requiring oil companies to drill on lands they have already leased from the federal government and cracking down on price gouging. The recent Republican campaign in the House is nothing but “high drama,” Moore said.

“This is just hype,” she said. “They don’t have the silver bullet.”

I’d first like to ask Rep. Moore why Democrats won’t consider Republican amendments to the Democrats’ bills. Is Rep. Moore certain that the Republicans’ amendments are without merit? If she does, why does she think that?

More important, look at the boogeyman list of ‘cures’ to our oil woes Rep. Moore listed:

Tax increases on Big Oil, telling Big Oil how to conduct their business and finally, bringing up the ever-lurking price gouging capitalist pigs.

Good grief, Charlie Brown. Rep. Moore just laid out the Democrats’ tired energy plan. Lo and behold, there isn’t a thing in it that will produce a drop of new oil (or much-needed natural gas, for that matter) or increase energy efficiency or suggest new conservation measures. The Democrats bills don’t say anything about nuclear power, either. (continue reading post »)

It’s been 10 days since Speaker Nancy Pelosi shut off the lights in the House chamber and the power to the microphones without allowing a vote on any pro-drilling amendments. While it’s true that most Americans aren’t partisan, it’s equally true that they know when someone’s acting like a tyrant. In this case, the tyrant’s name is Nancy Pelosi.

Before we villify her as the sole culprit, let’s set the record straight. Ms. Pelosi is the ‘Culprit-in-Chief’ but she’s had lots of help in obstructing legislation that would lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

First, it’s important to understand that every Democrat that voted to shut down for their August recess was a Pelosi enabler. Several Democrats joined every Republican in voting against adjournment. The motion to adjourn passed by a single vote. Had more of the so-called pro-drilling Democrats walked the walk, Speaker Pelosi wouldn’t have been able to adjourn.

Let’s not gloss over this point because it’s a huge point. If the so-called pro-drilling Democrats stood up to her, it would’ve put alot of pressure on Speaker Pelosi. It likely would’ve forced her to grant an up-or-down vote on Republicans’ American Energy Act.

The entire point of calling the August recess was to avoid dealing with that legislation. Speaker Pelosi wants to avoid that legislation like a vampire wants to avoid making contact with wooden stakes. (continue reading post »)