Today in Washington D. C. - May 7, 2008

On The Floor: Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today. After an hour of morning business, the Senate will resume post-cloture consideration of the motion to proceed to the flood insurance bill (S. 2284). Yesterday, a motion to invoke cloture on the Rockefeller substitute amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill (H.R. 2881) failed, because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid block amendments to the bill. Reid has taken this negative action more than any other majority leader. The FAA bill was set aside and the Senate then voted to move to the flood insurance bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to hold a markup on the Iraq and Afghanistan supplemental appropriations bill on Thursday.

From Senate & News Sources: Senate Democrats are expected to finally unveil their energy proposal today, though they haven’t said much about what it will include. One idea that has been circulating is withholding arms sales to OPEC nations unless they increase their oil production. The Wall Street Journal cannot believe how absurd it is for Democrats who oppose increasing domestic oil production to demand outsourcing it to the Persian Gulf:

“Charles Schumer, Byron Dorgan, Bernie Sanders, Bob Casey and Mary Landrieu are demanding that President Bush tell OPEC nations to increase their oil supplies or risk losing arms deals with the United States. The Senators say U.S. consumers need the price relief that only increased oil production can bring. Yes, that Senator Schumer and that Senator Dorgan, both of whom voted against increasing U.S. oil production because they couldn't abide drilling across 1% of Alaska's wilderness. Yes, that Senator Casey, who has called for mandatory reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide. . . . All of these Senate Democrats are willing to accept greater carbon emissions, as long as we can also outsource jobs in the petroleum industry to Middle Eastern dictatorships.”

Meanwhile, CQ Today reports that House Democrats have finally put together a supplemental war funding bill and are planning on bringing it to the floor Thursday. Democrat leaders have devised a three-step plan for the bill which will supposedly allow House members to vote for things they like and things they dislike while still passing the bill. The House will first vote on the actual war funding, then on an amendment calling for premature troop withdrawals from Iraq, and then on an amendment adding billions in domestic spending. However, many Democrats are displeased with the bill, especially Blue Dogs who dislike the extra domestic spending that Democrat leaders plan to tack on without paying for. Even more spending is expected to be piled on when Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV) holds a markup on the bill Thursday.

CQ details the numerous bad war policy ideas from anti-war Democrats that are expected to be in the second amendment: “The second amendment, a litany of war-policy provisions which includes a non-binding ‘goal’ of redeploying combat troops from Iraq within 18 months, is also expected to pass . . . . [It] also will include several policy riders that have failed before, including a prohibition on deploying troops that are not combat ready or that have not spent time at home equal to their battlefield deployments; a ban against interrogation techniques not found in the latest Army Field Manual . . . .”

In other news, Republicans continue to press House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow a vote on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “According to an estimate by the Department of Commerce, U.S. goods entering Colombia have been weighted down with more than $1 billion in tariffs since the Colombia Free Trade Agreement was signed. One billion dollars. This is a heavy burden to place on U.S. workers and the businesses they work for.” Sens. Kit Bond (R-MO), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Mel Martinez (R-FL) also spoke on the need to pass the Colombia pact. At the same time President Bush hosted House Republicans at the White House and again called for a vote on the Colombia agreement.

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