Today in Washington D. C. - June 5, 2008

On The Floor: The Senate is scheduled to consider the motion to proceed to the Democrats’ energy bill (S. 3044). At 4 PM, the Senate will consider the farm bill fix (H.R. 6124). After an hour of debate, senators will vote on passage of the bill.

Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed filled the amendment tree on the climate cap-and-trade bill and then filed for cloture, thus barring amendments and seeking to cut off debate on a sweeping, almost 500 page bill. This is a bill that addresses what Reid calls “easily the gravest long-term challenge that our country and the world faces” and “the most critical issue of our time.” A cloture vote is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Contact your senators! Tell them to stop this bill - it will only increase taxes and increase bureaucracy. Review: Impact of Lieberman-Warner Global Climate Change Bill on Your State

The Democrats’ actions make one wonder if they were serious about this legislation in the first place. Early in the week a number of Democrat senators expressed serious concerns about the bill and Democrat aides warned that they were being led off a cliff. It makes sense that Democrats wouldn’t want to take tough votes on a bill guaranteed to raise energy and gas prices when gasoline is approaching $4 per gallon. It appears that Democrats would rather close off debate and then blame Republicans instead of having a serious, extended discussion on a far-reaching piece of legislation.

From Senate & News Sources: Republicans decided it was important yesterday to remind Senate Democrats of the importance of keeping their commitments on judicial nominations. To that end, Republicans forced the reading of the entire Boxer substitute amendment to the climate bill, effectively shutting down the Senate for most of the day Wednesday. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid failed to live up to his pledge to confirm three circuit court judges by Memorial Day, Democrats were warned that there would be repercussions. Yesterday’s action won’t solve the problem right away, but it is the beginning of an effort to remind Democrats of their responsibilities and the importance of keeping their word.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 48-45 to pass the conference report on the Democrats’ fiscal 2009 budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 70). Investor’s Business Daily has a good editorial today examining many of the problems with the Democrat budget.

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