Today in Washington D. C. - July 17, 2008

On The Floor: Sen. Reid is expected to begin debate on the motion to proceed to his bill to regulate energy speculators (S. 3268). Later in the day, the Senate could consider several judicial nominations, though it’s unlikely those will include Judge Robert Conrad, who has now been waiting a year for a vote. Yesterday, the Senate passed the global AIDS relief bill (S. 2731) after rejecting four more amendments to it.

From Senate & News Sources: Today, Senate Democrats will offer their bill to regulate speculation in energy markets in an attempt to show they are doing something about energy prices. However, their bill is not a serious solution, and will do nothing to produce more energy. Senate Republicans have already offered a serious bill grounded in the basic laws of supply and demand to “Find More and Use Less” energy.

Clearly the fact that Democrats are even trying to move to an energy bill today, shows their nervousness about their months-long inaction on record gas prices. Roll Call reports that Democrats are looking to move energy bills prior to the August because they “have been worried that they haven’t responded quickly enough to the mounting gas price issue, especially since [President] Bush and Congressional Republicans have been pushing for legislation for several months and made the issue the focal point of GOP messaging.” The Hill reports that freshman Rep. Zack “Space and other Democrats say that gas prices have begun to overwhelm other issues.”

Large majorities of the public support increased domestic energy production and Congressional Republicans are on the same page. Earlier this week, GOP leaders in the House and Senate joined American Solutions to accept 1.3 million signatures urging Congress to “Drill Now.” Democrats appear to be aware of the growing call for more domestic energy production and are now per the AP: “scrambling to appear pro-drilling . . . even as their leaders appear dead set against reversing the long-standing drilling bans along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.”

Investor’s Business Daily writes, “House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wants people to know that Democrats like oil drilling. A lot. They’re just very picky about where.” The AP notes that House Democrats are actually putting forward a bill they’re calling the “Drill Act.” Of course, “[a]sked a minute later if the proposed bill would allow new offshore drilling, Hoyer told IBD no.” The reaction of a Sierra Club lobbyist is telling. She told IBD, “The bottom line is they are opening no new frontiers. They are trying to take the heat off of new drilling in special areas.” Though there are a number of rank-and-file Democrats who are warming to increased domestic production, Democrat leaders stubbornly continue to oppose producing more American energy. The New York Times today chronicles House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s one-woman crusade to block new offshore drilling, noting that such opposition is part of her “political DNA.” The Times writes, “she and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, appear intent on holding the line against calls to approve drilling in areas now off limits.” Democrats are proposing unserious legislation to placate their base and not to address the problems facing Americans. Neither the deceptively-titled “Drill Act” in the House nor the energy speculation legislation in the Senate include responsible provisions from the Republican Gas Price Reduction Act which would actually open up new areas for energy exploration. Americans want real energy solutions that actually address the problem, not smokescreens designed to provide political cover. Contact your senators! Contact your representatives! Tell them to get off their duffs and to remove drilling restrictions. Ask them why the U.S. subsidizes not opening existing oils wells in Texas, Oklahoma and in other parts of the county? New cost efficient technology exists to extract more oil from these wells than was previously extracted from these wells. Also ask them, when we are going to build more refineries in the United States?

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