video link here
I wonder how many tourists got a front-row seat to the House Oil Party this summer. Those that did will certainly talk about it in their home districts, and they will tell which party wanted a vacation, and which wanted to get something done in one of the most useless sessions of Congress in American history.
UPDATE: Democrats have declared defeat on their siege on energy policy:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Monday morning that the newest Democratic energy bill will be brought to the floor under normal rules and will be subject to a vote on a Republican alternative that is likely to call for even more drilling than Democrats are prepared to swallow.
Hoyer, holding his weekly session with reporters, would not discuss details of the new Democratic energy bill ” which was first outlined by caucus Vice Chairman John Larson (D-Conn.) over the weekend. But Hoyer did outline the process for bringing the bill to the floor, and said it will be brought up under regular order.
“[Republicans] will have the opportunity to offer their alternative, yes,” Hoyer said in response to a question about how the energy bill will be introduced. “We understand that their motion to recommit will be their Republican alternative.”
The move is a dramatic departure from Democrats’ pre-August recess strategy, in which they brought up each of their energy bills under suspension of the rules and, in doing so, avoided having any votes on Republican measures calling for offshore drilling. But by embracing this strategy, Democrats also failed to get the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the majority of their energy bills.
Robert, you are correct :Hurricane Sarah Continues to Wreak Havoc on the Obama Campaign! And I will add that she has thrown the Democrats and the do nothing Congress into a free fall!
Ed:
Instead of regrouping, the Democrats found themselves routed by an angry electorate and motivated Republicans. The House Oil Party kept the issue in the media eye, at least to an extent, but high gas prices kept it on the minds of voters while Democrats took their summer vacation. It was as poor a political calculation seen in recent years, and the sudden shift in generic Congressional ballots and in party identification has been the result.
I posted this back in August:UPDATED: Hell ” otherwise known as Congress ” has officially frozen over..UPDATE: Floor revolt: No vacation for House Republicans:
For the first time since the 1950s, Members will skip town today for the August recess without either chamber having passed a single appropriations bill. Then again, Democrats appear ready to sacrifice their whole agenda, even spending, rather than allow new domestic energy production.
Or even a mere debate about energy. The Democratic leadership is stonewalling any measure that might possibly relax the Congressional ban on offshore drilling. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid know that they would lose if a vote ever came to the floor, and they’re desperate to suppress an insurrection among those Democrats who are pragmatic about one of the top economic issues. Behind this whatever-it-takes obstructionism is an ideological commitment to high energy prices. The rulers of the Democratic Party want prices to keep rising. :
Normally, the spending hiatus would be a useful byproduct of Congressional bickering. But in this case the shutdown is malign neglect. Surging energy prices act like a huge tax increase on the economy, since energy demand is relatively fixed over the short term. The price spike is imposing genuine hardships on middle-income and working-class voters across the country.
The Democratic leadership isn’t oblivious to this man-at-the-pump reality. But Al Gore’s vision of the apocalyptic tides of climate change perfectly expresses their mentality: Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid see soaring prices as a public good ” the mechanism that will force energy enlightenment on the U.S. If anything, they think the price of gas is too low. As recently as June, the Senate debated a multitrillion-dollar carbon tax-and-regulation scheme that was designed to boost energy costs. A new version will be a priority in the next Administration.
See this video
And another one from August:Pelosi And Democrats Will Not Allow Drilling
Her words, not mine:
“I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she says impatiently when questioned. “I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy.”
“I respect the office that I hold,” she says. “And when you win the election, you win the majority, and what is the power of the speaker? To set the agenda, the power of recognition, and I am not giving the gavel away to anyone.”
Others blogging:
I hope the Republicans, the party that is actually trying to do some good in this otherwise useless Democrap-led Congress, just keeps beating away at the Democrites. No mercy, no quarter. Make it 100% clear to every American as they drive uop to the gas pump they are paying the Democrat tax when they fill up.
I am looking to have some small stickers made that say “Democrats=$6 gas” that I can stick everywhere.