McConnell to Senate Dems: “You shall not pass!”
Is it possible? Could it be true? Has public anger over sky-rocketing gas prices finally instilled some backbone into Senate Republicans?
Senate Republicans have threatened to block nearly all other bills pending before the August recess if Democrats refuse to vote with them on expanding offshore drilling.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said bills that do not pertain to energy can wait until after the August recess, with gas prices now surpassing $4 per gallon. McConnell and top Republicans indicated Wednesday they would oppose any procedural votes to take up other legislation, which require 60 votes to succeed…
Following swift Senate action on the narrow energy bill, Reid wanted the Senate to approve a massive defense authorization bill, an overhaul of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, legislation to protect reporters’ sources, an extension of expiring energy tax incentives, and a major package of 33 bills held up by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).
But Republicans are planning to keep the Senate on the energy issue until their demands are resolved. The massive housing-rescue package might be the only other measure that gets valuable floor time before the August recess. (The Hill)
So in other words, Reid planned on only offering an ineffective CYA bill on energy for his fellow Dems while doing nothing to address the problem. Considering the number of filibusters that Senate Democrats employed prior to gaining the majority in 2006, Reid’s complaints are not only hypocritical but truly pathetic. Yes, use wind, solar, geothermal, etc., but let’s not forget the lifeblood of our economy. Drill NOW!
h/t - Hot Air
– John (Average Gay Joe)
41 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
One of which, I believe, is the “Advancing America’s Priorities Act” — a truly epic piece of pork put together by Harry GReid and senate democrats, that contains:
- a $1,500,000,000 subsidy for the Washington Metro (the biggest earnark in history)
- a $24 million earmark for the ineffective, corrupt, child-raping United Nations.
- Two $800,000,000+ earmarks for “ocean research”
- $5,000,000 for a museum in Poland.
- $183,000,000 for “homeless youth” (or, more accurately, for bureaucrats and “community organizations” that claim to work with homeless youth.) (I wonder if any of that money will be used for that program in San Francisco that helps young illegal immigrant felons evade the law.)
- $100,000,000 to rename existing paralysis research in honor of Christopher Reeve.
Comment by V the K — July 24, 2008 @ 11:06 am - July 24, 2008
Finally, the Senate GOP grew a pair.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — July 24, 2008 @ 11:54 am - July 24, 2008
I’m not convinced they have the full pair yet, but it’s a start.
Comment by NaturallyGay — July 24, 2008 @ 12:08 pm - July 24, 2008
Hah. If one of your party’s key planks is “Drill our coastlines!!!”, i think you might be just a little out of touch. Even T. Boone Pickens can see the writing on the wall.
Comment by Dan — July 24, 2008 @ 12:29 pm - July 24, 2008
1. The Outer Continental Shelf is not only not coastline, it’s not even visible from the coastline.
2. T. Boone Pickens supports offshore drilling.
Nevertheless, Dan, we appreciate your ignorant and ill-informed comment.
Comment by V the K — July 24, 2008 @ 12:43 pm - July 24, 2008
#4 - “If one of your party’s key planks is “Drill our coastlines!!!”, i think you might be just a little out of touch.”
So says the useful idiot whose Dhimmicrat representatives would rather have the USA completely dependent upon foreign oil and have refused to allow us to immediately lower oil prices once drilling commences - hence Congress’ single-digit approval ratings.
So WHO is out of touch again?
Snap - you are dismissed.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — July 24, 2008 @ 1:32 pm - July 24, 2008
It is interesting, isn’t it? The primary reason that the United States is so dependent on foreign oil today is because the Democrat Party has systematically blocked any attempt to allow or increase domestic oil production.
Meanwhile, they’ve also blocked nuclear energy, which is, bar none, the most effective way to replace greenhouse-gas emitting and fossil-fuel dependent plants, as the European governments they love to have tell us what to do have figured out.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — July 24, 2008 @ 1:40 pm - July 24, 2008
Considering leftist slogans about “no blood for oil”, one would think they would want to see the US energy-independent as quickly as possible. Huh.
Dan: I think this comes from some of them viewing us as being a “Fifth Column”. IOW, as gays we do not hold to all of their views on homosexuality which they believe is part and parcel of conservatism. Heck, I’ve run into social conservatives before who had a problem with my being Catholic, let alone my sexual orientation.
Comment by John — July 24, 2008 @ 1:40 pm - July 24, 2008
Oops. My comment to Dan is in the wrong thread…
Comment by John — July 24, 2008 @ 1:41 pm - July 24, 2008
So you’re saying that because the rigs aren’t visible from the coastline, there’s nothing to worry about? Say hi to Mr. Ostrich while you’ve got your head down there.
Drilling our coastlines is an ineffective, stopgap measure that will only distract us from a more permanent solution to our energy problems. Notice how McCain and company haven’t said boo about how much we’ll actually save by opening up some of our most pristine land to drilling. That’s because, under the most optimistic of predictions, we’ll save at best 2-3 cents per gallon. Most sensible people are willing to pay that extra amount to keep our environment unspoiled. And never mind the fact that this 2-3 cent savings will undoubtedly be cancelled out by standard market fluctuations.
The bottom line is that this offshore drilling thing is a red herring. Most people understand that we’ve simply been consuming beyond our means. Add in the rapacious appetite of certain developing countries (China, India) and the increasingly global market for energy and you can see how McCain’s energy plan is hopelessly inadequate. And that’s why you haven’t seen this plan gain any traction.
It’s interesting - I know plenty of people who are howling about the price of gas. But as much as they complain, they never follow up their complaints with “the price should go back down”. Instead they’re switching to smaller cars, public transportation or carpooling. I think we’ve reached the tipping point where most people understand that we can’t keep going back to the (oil) bottle. Obviously McCain, and most of the readers of this blog, aren’t part of this crowd.
Which is fine by me. Each time you guys bang this drum, it only emphasizes how clueless you are. So keep up the whining, it warms this liberal’s heart.
Comment by Dan — July 24, 2008 @ 1:44 pm - July 24, 2008
And NDT needs to wake up about nuclear power. It has equal support (and opposition) from both sides of the aisle. The primary source of opposition to nuclear power isn’t any one party - it’s the NIMBY crowd that goes ballistic whenever they learn that the new power plant will be within 10 miles of their own place.
Comment by Dan — July 24, 2008 @ 1:57 pm - July 24, 2008
Why is that? Because you’re at the emotional maturity level of a 5 year old?
Comment by Vince P — July 24, 2008 @ 2:21 pm - July 24, 2008
I suggest people who support what McConnell is doing to call his or yours Senate office and tell them so.
They need encouragement to stand up to the ruthless Leftists and meida.
Comment by Vince P — July 24, 2008 @ 2:22 pm - July 24, 2008
Drilling our coastlines is an ineffective, stopgap measure that will only distract us from a more permanent solution to our energy problems.
Funny, that’s what the Democrat Party was saying when they demanded the original ban in the 1970s.
Here we are, thirty years later, still with no “permanent solution” — but even more dependent on foreign gas and oil while our country sits on literally oceans of it. Meanwhile, improvements in drilling and extraction technology have vastly reduced environmental impact from this, while Democrats like Ted Kennedy block the construction of wind farms because it would interfere with the view from their yachts, and Nancy Pelosi/Al Gore/Barack Obama streak around the skies on private jets while lecturing people about “reducing consumption”.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — July 24, 2008 @ 2:27 pm - July 24, 2008
Funny how these Democrats seem to believe we’re smart enough to produce magical alternative fuels (eventually) but not smart enough to extract oil without damaging our “pristine” environment.
Funny how Hurricanes Rita and Katrina blasted right through our off-shore oil installations, and yet not a drop of oil was spilled.
Maybe in ten or twenty years, we will have alternative fuels. Until then, what sense does it make to send trillions of dollars overseas to fund our enemies?
But the fact remains, fifty miles out at sea is not “coastline.” I’d like to see someone like ‘Dan’ swim for the ‘coastline’ after being dumped fifty miles out at sea.
Comment by V the K — July 24, 2008 @ 2:36 pm - July 24, 2008
Hate the price of gas? Stop driving an SUV. A lot of people can ride bikes, carpool and use public transit. Very simple.
Comment by Pinky Bear — July 24, 2008 @ 3:26 pm - July 24, 2008
Just because we eventually need to get off oil as an energy source does not mean to not expand drilling. Nor have I ever heard anyone advocating the expansion of oil drilling and refining say we should not pursue other improvements. To claim otherwise is just a strawman.
But also people that advocate reducing oil need to understand there is no magic bullet that can solve our problems tomorrow. That like all change it’s done in steps.
Such “all or nothing” solutions result in the increased costs in the developed world, holding back progress in the undeveloped world, and are not viable in real life, for they don’t take into account the fact there are six billion people with needs that need to be met right now. Let alone our needs 50 years from now. A long term view does not mean you ignore the short term.
Comment by plutosdad — July 24, 2008 @ 3:30 pm - July 24, 2008
Yes, Pinky Bear, like Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore, and Barack Obama.
So when will you be demanding that these Democrats give up their private jets, SUVs, and so forth, since you insist that everyone should ride bikes, carpool, and use public transit?
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — July 24, 2008 @ 3:31 pm - July 24, 2008
NDT, even if commuters switched to smaller cars or mass transit, that wouldn’t help the truckers who need diesel to carry our food, fuel, and goods around the country, or the farmers who need not only fuel to run their equipment, but the fertilizers that grow their crops.
Not that a clueless, classless socialist like “Good Riddance” would understand the complexity of our economy, or the role of petroleum in it. Eventually, we can find substitutes for petroleum, but it’s not going to happen any time soon. And it is beyond deranged for us to be sending trillions of dollars overseas to buy oil when we are sitting on huge reserves of it… just for the sake of pandering to environmental extremists.
Comment by V the K — July 24, 2008 @ 3:45 pm - July 24, 2008
Can anyone imagine the amout of carbon emissions, gas usage and energy depletion going on as a result of the Obamanation’s “Tour de Farce,” or as I used to refer to it, summer vacation?
Wonder why these same libtards are not hyperventilating over his waste of fuel and taxpayer dolllars? Unless Germany is one of the USA’s 57 states as B. Hussein had stated a few months ago.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — July 24, 2008 @ 4:32 pm - July 24, 2008
Not to mention, drilling in the US will create jobs. Not useless, make-work, “community organizer” type jobs… but real jobs, from drilling, transporting, and refining the oil that we extract.
Once again, the Republican party sides with the working class, and the Democrats side with the environmental whackjobs.
Comment by V the K — July 24, 2008 @ 4:37 pm - July 24, 2008
Republicans tax the heck out of the working class, you mean. Read Nickled And Dimed To Death.
Comment by Pinky Bear — July 24, 2008 @ 6:13 pm - July 24, 2008
#22 - You can read?
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — July 24, 2008 @ 6:18 pm - July 24, 2008
Republicans tax the heck out of the working class, you mean.
Kind of hard to do when you consider they’ve lowered taxes in every single bracket.
What’s Obama planning to do? Oh, right, raise them.
So explain that one to us; if the Massa Obama already says taxes are too high and hurting the American public, why is the Massa Obama demanding that they be raised?
Furthermore, given that Democrat Party leftists like yourself have argued for years that taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products are regressive taxes that hurt and harm minorities disproportionately, why are you arguing for massive increases on them to purchase health insurance for children whose families can already afford it?
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — July 24, 2008 @ 6:23 pm - July 24, 2008
The bottom 50% of income earners pay only 2% of all the taxes in the country. If the Republicans are taxing working class families, they are being horribly inefficient about it.
It’s amazing just how many lies you have to swallow in order to be a Democrat.
Comment by V the K — July 24, 2008 @ 6:33 pm - July 24, 2008
75% of voters support domestic energy development, and 71% support offshore drilling. Let the Democrats obstruct, and let the Republicans let voters know which party supports the continuing transfer of billions of dollars a year to hostile foreign governments, and also which party opposes the creation of jobs in America.
Comment by V the K — July 24, 2008 @ 6:42 pm - July 24, 2008
House Republicans are taking this serious as well — The American Energy Act (HR 6566):
With $4 gas prices this can gain massive support if they can get the media to stop their Obamadrooling for three minutes or so!
David
Comment by LifeTrek — July 24, 2008 @ 7:02 pm - July 24, 2008
T. Boone Pickens and McCain have the right idea (and except for not drilling in Anwar..which I still don’t understand McCain on refusing to support that when it can be done in an environmentally safe manner and we are only talking about 2000 acres) and that idea is do it all…..drill offshore (which is not on the coast lines but well beyond that) and drill wherever we can. Use nuclear energy, wind and solar, clean coal, natural gas, liquified natural gas, increase our electric grid system (especially if electric cars are built), hydrogen fuel cars, more mass transit and so on.
I don’t understand the Democrats screaming about energy independence and getting off of Middle East Oil and that it funds terrrorism and then refuse to do all of the above……and they still haven’t explained their opposition to a sound energy plan that McCain and T. Boone Pickens support (minus his position on Anwar..if you can drill in an environmentally safe anner in offshore drilling then you can do it in Anwar)
I also don’t understand why McCain is not using this as an energy freedom plan and keep talking it up…..it makes sense and will work.
compared to NOBama who isn’t for any of the above except keeping us stuck with Middle East Oil and thus funding terrorism…..so much for his Yes We Can…with him no we can’t be energy independent….to name just a few things we can’t be with Nobama.
Comment by Rocket — July 24, 2008 @ 8:47 pm - July 24, 2008
Dan,
Our problem is not enough energy. Democrats are the cause. And your comment about stop gap measures is laughable considering it is your speaker Pelosi who wants to tap the nation’s emergency reserves to lower the price of gas. Talk about stopgap!
And contrary to your ignorant and misleading claims, the US Geological Survey estimates that the arctic alone may hold 90 Billion barrels of oil, or enough to meet all of Americas oil needs all by itself for 12 years without buying a drop from other countries. And that doesn’t even include the billions of gallons that are waiting in the continental shelf, and it doesn’t include the massive amounts of oil deposits available on shore that Democrats are obstructing us from getting, and it doesn’t include the staggering amounts of oil, believed to dwarf all the aforementioned sources combined, available in Americas shale.
There is nothing stop-gap about it. Republicans are in favor, and have consistently voted for increasing all our domestic energy sources. Democrats, who really do propose stop-gap measures, threatening America’s security by suggesting we tap our emergency reserves to reduce the price of gas just long enough for them to get elected! (Exactly the same way Bill Clinton DID open our emergency reserves to try to get Al Gore elected)
On the other hand, Democrats have voted against every attempt in the past 30 years to increase any domestic energy sources except wind and solar. Indeed, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry have even opposed wind lest the turbines sully their multi-million dollar views. And no, Democrats do not support nuclear energy just as much as Republicans, nowhere near it! Hell, Democrats not only want to block all new energy production, they are actively trying to tear down the hydroelectric dams that supply energy to the entire pacific northwest in order to save the salmon they dine on in the capitol lunch room!
And lastly, your comment that Republicans are out of touch is frankly hilarious when the public supports DRILLING by overwhelming majorities!
You are simply delusional!
Comment by American Elephant — July 24, 2008 @ 11:30 pm - July 24, 2008
Oh, I apologize. Democrats also championed biofuels … and aside from skyrocketing food prices, world-wide food shortages, riots, increased hunger, loopholes that have sent billions of American taxpayer dollars to pay for Europe’s fuel needs, the razing of tropical rainforests and the real threat of extinction of species like the orangutan, its worked fabulously!
Comment by American Elephant — July 25, 2008 @ 12:20 am - July 25, 2008
#10: “Drilling our coastlines is an ineffective, stopgap measure that will only distract us from a more permanent solution to our energy problems.”
I’ve seen this same, tired, bullsh*t script repeated on probably 50 different blogs and websites, and what people like Dan need to be told I that they should just stick to their usual crazy leftist arguments about that mythical environmental apocalypse Al Gore has been telling us will go down in as little as 5 years. Dan, it’s bad enough to listen to the endless litany of slogans and bumper stickers you’ve memorized about “Mother Gaia,” but at least you can claim to be an expert in utterly false, left-wing propaganda. However, you do nothing but blow your cover when you try to talk about the economy and how domestic drilling will affect the price of oil as if you knew an f-ing thing about it. Dan, the whole thing collapses around your empty head when you state things like this:
“Notice how McCain and company haven’t said boo about how much we’ll actually save by opening up some of our most pristine land to drilling. That’s because, under the most optimistic of predictions, we’ll save at best 2-3 cents per gallon. Most sensible people are willing to pay that extra amount to keep our environment unspoiled.”
I’m talking about the last sentence, Dan. Are you really so brainwashed that you don’t see how transparent your agenda is from those words? That sentence reveals you for the tree-hugging, ignorant eco-hysteric you really are because you’ve swallowed whole the lies of environmentalism, specifically the assumption that “spoiling the environment” is a forgone conclusion whenever there is drilling. Naturally, you couldn’t cite off the top of your head a single incident of an oil company polluting the environment in the last 20 years because facts are irrelevant to you. Oil companies know how to drill without destroying the environment because (1) they know what the fu*k they’re doing; and (2) being ordered by the EPA to clean up oil spills ISN’T PROFITABLE.
So, Dan, just have some principles and stand up for what you really believe in. Stop with all the embarrassing economics lecturing and just admit that you are against drilling anywhere, period. Admit that it would make no difference to you if you knew for a fact that gasoline process would drop to $1 per gallon on the first day the first derrick is set up. There are no circumstances in which you would support domestic drilling, so stop with the f-ing lies and be honest. You’re not fooling anyone—you want gas prices to go HIGHER so that fewer and fewer Americans will be able to drive their own cars and they will be forced to take state owned and operated trains and buses. That’s your socialist wet-dream, so stop talking about money. You sound like a second grader playing poker.
Comment by Sean A — July 25, 2008 @ 12:42 am - July 25, 2008
#10: (cont.) “…opening up some of our most pristine land to drilling.”
Most pristine land? How do you know, Dan? Have you been to ANWR? Do you have plans to EVER go there? Do you know anyone who does? Are you aware that the liberal media has only shown you footage of the lush, beautiful, untouched southern area of ANWR which is PERMANENTLY PROTECTED from oil exploration, while the actual area where drilling would take place is no where near the protected area and looks more like the surface of the moon (a moon suffering from paralyzing depression and contemplating suicide)?
Oh, but I forgot. While the idea of an oil derrick on a tiny, ugly piece of land that neither you nor anyone else will ever see fills you with petulant, sniveling outrage, it’s the idea of Americans paying less than $4 per gallon for gas that you find intolerable.
Comment by Sean A — July 25, 2008 @ 1:04 am - July 25, 2008
#10: (cont.) “It’s interesting - I know plenty of people who are howling about the price of gas. But as much as they complain, they never follow up their complaints with “the price should go back down”. Instead they’re switching to smaller cars, public transportation or carpooling.”
It’s just one flagrant howler of a lie after another with you, Dan. The eco-psychotic variety of liberals are thrilled with the price of gas and hope that it goes higher so that we are all enslaved by their arrogant agenda based on a belief that they are saving (controlling) the very globe. All other liberals stand at the pump, bitching about George W. Bush and his “oil buddies” to anyone within earshot. Naturally, the Democrats’ most enduring accomplishment in Congress (doing everything in their power to ENSURE our exclusive dependence on foreign oil) never enters their minds. No, they are angry about that secret pipeline that Bush built in Iraq to siphon off their oil, transport it under the oceans and store in secret underground tanks at his ranch in Crawford. They’re especially outraged about that remote control Bush has in his office that allows him to raise oil prices with the touch of a button. It’s all Bush’s fault.
BTW, after those liberals are done bitching and filling up their tank—they get into their Suburbans and Escalades and drive away, muttering about how evil Republicans are for not carpooling. Dan, we know the truth. Liberals don’t use public transportation or carpool. They “do their part” to save the planet by criticizing Republicans for not carpooling or taking the bus. Their absolute moral authority doesn’t come from actually riding the subway with the rest of the riff-raff. No, they have the most important job of all: RAISING AWARENESS. And as we know from Al Gore and Cheryl David’s example, private jets and an armada of SUVs are indispensable for raising awareness.
So, Dan, do you carpool or use public transportation regularly? Or, was your comment intended to “raise awareness” among us evil conservatives that we are destroying the planet?
Comment by Sean A — July 25, 2008 @ 1:33 am - July 25, 2008
10: (cont.) “Each time you guys bang this drum, it only emphasizes how clueless you are. So keep up the whining, it warms this liberal’s heart.”
Of all the ignorant statements you managed to rattle off in comment #10, this one is the saddest AND the funniest at the same time. The sad part is that you have no idea why the statements above are funny (point-and-laugh funny). You’re so obtuse that you don’t see any irony labeling conservatives “clueless” at the end of a comment which you spent informing us unequivocally that the basic economic axioms related to supply and demand do not apply to oil. According to your comment, the whole industry is just controlled by mischievous little poltergeists doing whatever they wish, and we’re the “clueless” ones. Sad. But funny!
Comment by Sean A — July 25, 2008 @ 1:54 am - July 25, 2008
Says who?
Which is why millions are demanding that Congress approve drilling? And this has been going on for years. Remember when Tom Daschle REFUSED to even have a vote on the matter?
Just goes to show that liberals couldn’t give a flying d*mn about Americans and what they want. So much for doing “the will of the people” as promissed over and over just under two years ago. Good to see you’re showing us your disdain for the American people.
What’s good for America is bad for the liberals.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — July 25, 2008 @ 2:14 am - July 25, 2008
#35 - And just think, TGC, if Slick Willie had started drilling in ANWAR back in 1998, we would have had enough oil to keep prices low.
Instead, he was playing “hide the cigar” with a certain intern.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — July 25, 2008 @ 12:50 pm - July 25, 2008
We would be getting a million barrels a day out of ANWR if Slick Willy (with help from John McCain) had not blocked drilling back in the nineties. In other words, we would have $130,000,000 a day not being sent overseas to terror regimes.
Comment by V the K — July 25, 2008 @ 12:55 pm - July 25, 2008
90 billion barrels of oil in the arctic. But Democrats want us to keep buying oil from terrorists and paying $5 per gallon at the pump.
Comment by V the K — July 25, 2008 @ 2:56 pm - July 25, 2008
Well here in Ohio, the price of gas has dropped almost 50 cents since President Bush announced his lifting of the Executive order.
so much for your 2-3 cents. Imagine how it would drop if Speaker Pelosi stopped speaking and actually did something
Comment by The Livewire — July 25, 2008 @ 4:47 pm - July 25, 2008
#39 - There’s not enough duct tape in the world to actually make that happen.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — July 25, 2008 @ 6:46 pm - July 25, 2008
#40: “There’s not enough duct tape in the world to actually make that happen.”
Yet another example of Pelosi not following the unequivocal instructions of the American people. We send her a roll of duct tape for her mouth and she uses every centimeter of it to pull back her face. Wrong side, Nancy!
Comment by Sean A — July 25, 2008 @ 11:23 pm - July 25, 2008