Today in Washington D. C. - July 23, 2008

The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today and resumed post-cloture consideration of the motion to proceed to the Democrats’ energy speculation bill (S. 3268). Debate on the bill will continue throughout the day, with Democrats and Republicans alternating in 30 minute time blocks. Later today, the House is expected to pass the housing bill (H.R. 3221) and the Senate could attempt to clear the bill for the president late in the day. At 11 AM, a ceremony will be held in the Capitol Rotunda to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the integration of the U.S. armed forces.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 94-0 to move forward with the energy speculation bill. The Senate also agreed to House amendments to a Burma sanctions bill (H.R. 3890) by unanimous consent. Also, Reid introduced a 400-page omnibus bill (S. 3297) of legislation Sen. Coburn has objected to over spending and limited government concerns. Reid plans to try to push the bill through at the end of the week.

From Senate & News Sources: Politico has an excellent story today that gets the big picture on the energy debate in the Senate exactly right.

“Democratic leaders, caught off guard by a swing in public opinion and undermined by some of their own members, are scrambling to run down the clock on calls to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling. . . .

With just two weeks to go before the August recess, Democratic leaders are doing everything they can to prevent a vote on drilling before members leave town.“[Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid offered Republicans one shot at a drilling amendment on Tuesday, but talks on energy policy quickly broke down after the GOP rejected that offer. Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations Comm Chair Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) abruptly cancelled a markup, previously scheduled for Thursday, at which Republicans might have been able to force the issue.

One senior GOP Senate aide said Democrats were ‘in a panic, choosing between Al Gore and the Sierra Club on one hand and the angry guy who just paid $80 to fill his F-150’ on the other.” To borrow a phrase, read the whole thing.

This morning, Reid tried to set up debate on the Democrats’ energy speculation bill by limiting it to one amendment for each side that would have to get 60 votes to be adopted. CQ Today notes, “Neither the Republican nor Democratic amendments are likely to pass because of the 60-vote threshold, so Republicans don’t see Reid’s offer as a viable proposition.” A Senate observer said, "This is not the way the Senate has addressed important energy legislation in the past; and it is not how it should address energy today. The result of this procedure is to allow only a vote on the Democrats’ narrow bill to restrict energy speculation without addressing real supply and demand issues."

Academics, economists, and newspapers are "coming out of the woodwork" to say, in the words of wealthy Democrat Warren Buffett, “It’s not speculation, it is supply and demand.” The New York Times reports today that “a federal task force said Tuesday that it had so far found no evidence that those [speculators] are systematically pushing up the cost of energy.” The Dallas Morning News explains “the unintended consequences of this approach,” noting that “[s]cores of industries and investors benefit from these transactions.” To quote Senate GOP Leader McConnell, “Let’s get serious. Let’s open this debate to more than one good idea — rather than bring it to a premature end. And let’s find a solution that incorporates increased domestic supply and conservation. We need to find more and use less. Americans are demanding nothing less.”

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