California Conservative

Following Monday’s vote on the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout, two things should be clear to the American people: Barack Obama is a sideline watcher and Nancy Pelosi cares more about playing hyperpartisan politics than she cares about doing what’s right for the American people.

When John McCain jumped into the mess last week, 4 House Republican were on board with the bailout. When the final tally was counted yesterday, 65 Republicans voted for the bill. John McCain’s jumping into the fray meant another thing: House Republicans got a seat at the table, allowing them to negotiate into the bill some meaningful provisions that would’ve protected taxpayers to a certain extent. John Boehner worked hard to get Republicans on board. That’s the picture of leadership.

By comparison, Barack Obama wanted to stay away in the worst way. He only returned to Washington because President Bush invited him. That isn’t the picture of leadership. The minute the meeting ended, his jet was winging him away from Washington. He didn’t lift a finger over the weekend. Yes, he stayed in touch with Secretary Paulson but he didn’t call House Democrats urging them to vote for this bill.

He essentially voted present again. That’s unacceptable, especially considering the fact that this was supposedly the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. In my opinion, there’s two reasons why he isn’t interjecting himself into this crisis. (more…)

John Boehner’s office has issued this statement on the Democrats throwing in the towel on drilling. Leader Boehner sounds the same caution I sounded earlier. Here’s the money quote from Leader Boehner’s statement:

Lifting these outdated bans is a long-overdue but crucial step toward American energy independence. But it is just that: a step. Congress still has a great deal of work left to do before the ‘all of the above’ energy plan proposed by House Republicans becomes a reality. Two months ago, we introduced the American Energy Act to increase environmentally-safe drilling that gives states a stake in energy production occurring off their shores and on their lands, encourage more conservation and efficiency, and promote the use of renewable and alternative fuels.

Giving states a financial incentive would be the last domino that’s needed to fall to achieve final victory for the American people. States would get healthy in a hurry if they got annual checks in the hundreds of millions of dollars. (more…)

I don’t often disagree with Captain Ed. This is one of those rare times when I must, though. In this post, Ed says that Democrats have waved the white flag of defeat on drilling on the OCS. Here’s the article that he’s basing that off of.

Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.

Here’s the specific statement of Captain Ed’s that I specifically disagree with:

This effectively ends this as an issue for the 110th Congress. Democrats thought they could get a partial moratorium past the Republicans, one that would have kept drilling at least 50 miles off from shore, but President Bush threatened a veto on any continuing resolution with that kind of language.

(more…)

At midnight of October 1, the ban on oil exploration and production could come to an end. It would also mean that the federal government would shut down temporarily. In the meantime, Speaker Pelosi is trying to pass a continuing resolution that includes an extension of the various moratoria. Here’s the statement from the Institute for Energy Research:

Having failed to pass the required measures to fund the government for the next fiscal year, Congress must now pass what is known as a Continuing Resolution (CR) in order to avoid a government shutdown. A draft of the resolution contains a provision taken from the recently passed House bill, H.R. 6899, to continue the ban on energy exploration and production on nearly all of the taxpayer owned Outer Continental Shelf in the lower 48 states for another year. At present, the ban is set to expire at the end of September. Dan Kish, Senior Vice President for Policy at IER issued the following statement:
“In 9 days the long-outdated ban on energy exploration on the energy rich, taxpayer-owned Outer Continental Shelf will come to an end. But like a thief in the night, it appears our government is attempting to sneak a new energy ban into a must-pass spending measure, thus continuing the decades-old, government-imposed American energy embargo.” (more…)

It’s insulting enough when Speaker Pelosi tells the American people that the House passed pro drilling legislation. It only took a visit to the IER website to expose the gimmicks in the bill that look like drilling provisions but aren’t. Now she’s saying that Pelosi’s Democrats “took strong action to curb excessive speculation” in the marketplace. If this exaggerating continues, I expect her to eventually say that she’s able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

This week, the Democratic-Led Congress has taken serious and comprehensive steps to ensure American energy independence and help consumers with the price at the pump.

Earlier this week, we passed comprehensive energy legislation to put us on the path toward energy independence by expanding domestic supply, protect consumers with strong action to lower the costs of energy and to protect taxpayers by making Big Oil pay for its fair share of our transition to a clean, renewable energy future, ensure a clean, green future through energy efficiency and conservation, and commit America to renewable energy and help create millions of good-paying green jobs.

Today, we have built on that accomplishment with another critical step to protect consumers and lower energy costs. Experts have testified before Congress that excessive speculation in the oil markets may be responsible for inflating oil prices by as much as $20 to $60 more per barrel. With the legislation passed today, we have taken strong action to curb excessive speculation in the energy futures markets, and make the market work for the consumer. (more…)

Whenever I want the clearest picture of the Democrats’ non-energy energy bills, I head straight to the Institute for Energy Research. Wanting to put forward the best explanation on why the bill pushed through by Pelosi’s Democrats, I visited this webpage. I’m glad I found it. Here’s what I found:

The bill permanently bans and development within 50 miles of shore. [Sec. 102]

The vast majority of undiscovered oil and gas reserves are projected to be between the coast and 50 miles offshore.

Here’s another noteworthy point made:

Fails to open new, energy rich areas for exploration and development in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. These areas in the Gulf could start producing oil and gas very quickly because they are close to existing infrastructure.

If the Democrats were serious about providing instant price relief, lifting the ban on drilling here should’ve been their highest priority. This proves that providing quick price relief isn’t the Democrats’ highest priority. That begs this question:

If prices at the pump are crippling families’ budgets and high heating bills only 2 months, if that, off, and with high prices at the pump crippling the economy, shouldn’t providing price relief be the Democratic majority’s top priority? Apparently, this legislation is proof that it’s barely a blip on the Democrats’ radar. (more…)

I’m a proud contributor to the NRCC. I’m a proud contributor to the NRCC because the House Republicans have fought the good fight against the dictatorial anti-drilling rule of Speaker Pelosi. Despite the Democrats’ latest anti-drilling legislation, John Boehner and the House GOP Caucus aren’t leaving the battlefield. Here’s Leader Boehner’s latest press release on the subject:

Prior to today’s debate on the No Child Left Inside Act (H.R. 3036), House Republicans will move to force a debate and vote on legislation to keep the number issue on the minds of the American people, high energy costs, on the radar of this Democratic Congress. The measure, sponsored by House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), would put Democrats on notice that Congress should not adjourn until a real, comprehensive energy reform bill is enacted into law.

Two days ago, the Democratic Majority passed a sham bill they claim would increase American energy production and lower gas prices, but in reality, it was designed to provide political cover for vulnerable Democrats who have promised their constituents they would support pro-energy legislation. An editorial in this morning’s Charleston Daily Mail slammed the bogus “no energy” bill: (more…)

Today, Minority Leader John Boehner’s office issued this scalding statement on the Democrats’ hypocritical energy strategy. The statement highlights Democratic co-sponsors of the Peterson-Abercrombie bill that John Peterson and Neil Abercrombie wrote. Here’s part of Leader Boehner’s statement:

House Democrats say they want to “stimulate” the economy, but last night nearly every single one of them voted against the bipartisan energy bill authored by Reps. John Peterson (R-PA) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) to lower gas prices on behalf of working families and small businesses, including 24 Democrats who are cosponsors of the Peterson-Abercrombie bill. That’s correct, 24 Democrats flip-flopped, repudiated their past statements of support and cosponsorship for the bipartisan Peterson-Abercrombie bill by voting against it. And by rejecting the Peterson-Abercrombie bipartisan plan, Democrats proved once and for all that yesterday’s debate was about nothing more than providing political cover for vulnerable Democrats on the eve of an election, and not about passing “all of the above” energy reforms to make a real difference in lowering gas prices.

When it was ‘rubber-meets-the-road’ time, this group of Democrats showed where their allegiances lied. Here’s the list of deserting co-sponsors:

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-KS), Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), Rep. Bud Cramer (D-AL), Rep. Henry Cueller (D-TX), Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN), Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), Rep. Gene Green (D-TX), Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL), Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI), Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA), Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA), Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)

It’s worth noting that many of these deserting co-sponsors are BDD’s. Still, the most stunning part of this is that Neil Abercrombie deserted his own plan. That’s unthinkable. It’s unthinkable because it’s extremely hypocritical. I can’t think of another time when a co-author of a bill abandoned the bill. It’s one thing to abandon it if a bunch of amendments had dramatically changed the bill. Thats defensible. This bill wasn’t dramatically altered. It was barely changed. (more…)

Yesterday, Minority Leader John Boehner asked whether Blue Dog Democrats would vote for H R 6899, Speaker Pelosi’s latest non-energy energy bill. The results are in and they tell quite the tale. Here are all of the Blue Dog Democrats voting for this non-energy energy bill:

Arcuri, Baca, Bean, Bishop (GA), Boren, Boswell, Boyd (FL), Cardoza, Carney, Chandler, Cooper, Costa, Cramer, Davis, Lincoln, Donnelly, Ellsworth, Giffords, Gillibrand, Gordon, Harman, Herseth Sandlin, Hill, Holden, Mahoney (FL), Matheson, Melancon, McIntyre, Patrick Murphy, Michaud, Moore (KS), Peterson (MN), Pomeroy, Salazar, Schiff, Linda Sánchez, Loretta Sanchez, Scott (GA), Space, Thompson (MS), Tanner and Wilson (OH)

Of the 53 BDD’s, 42 voted for H.R. 6899. Only John Barrow and Jim Marshall voted against it. That means that 80 percent of the Blue Dog Democrats voted the same way as such environmental extremists as Dennis Kucinich, John Conyers, Maxine Waters, Henry Waxman, George Miller and Jim McDermott.

What’s really gotta hurt the BDD’s is this quote from their intrepid leader:

“We’re not trying to give incentives to drill, we’re giving incentives to invest in renewables and natural gas that will take us where we need to go,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) told reporters before the vote.

I hope that the NRCC is paying attention. They should be making videos as we speak highlighting that quote. Anytime one of these representatives says that they voted to increase drilling, the video should run with Ms. Pelosi’s quote plastered on the screen for at least 5 seconds, followed by the representative saying that he/she voted for more drilling.

Personally, I’d love hearing Ms. Pelosi explain how that quote fits with this part of her official statement: (more…)

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. (more…)