Obama Focuses On Energy Tax Ideas To Appease Far Left; Americans Focused On Bread and Butter Issues - Jobs, Destructive Energy Policies, Impact of Obamacare and White House Scandals

Great cartoon by Glenn McCoy. Click the graphic for more
Hat Tip 9/20/2013 article at Maggie's Notebook

Today in Washington, D.C. - May 6, 2014
The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today. At 11 AM, the Senate voted 79-20 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to (i.e. to take up) S. 2262, an energy efficiency bill sponsored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH).

Yesterday, the Senate voted 90-3 to confirm Nancy Moritz, to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit. Which goes to show that Republicans are willing to vote for reasonable nominees by the president. Unfortunately, the nominees have been more progressives of late and Harry Reid opted for the nuclear option to permit the Democrats to approve judicial nominee without considering their negatives. They are moving quickly to approve radicals who will affect your future lives with their decisions because they fear losing the Senate in 2015 after the 2014 election.

The House reconvened today at Noon. Bills being considered today:
H.R. 2672 — "To amend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to provide for an application process for interested parties to apply for a county to be designated as a rural area, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2919 — "To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require annual reports to Congress on, and the maintenance of databases on, awards of fees and other expenses to prevailing parties in certain administrative proceedings and court cases to which the United States is a party, and for other purposes."
H.R. 3584 — "To amend the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to authorize privately insured credit unions to become members of a Federal home loan bank, and for other purposes."
H.R. 4292 — "To amend chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code, to clarify the exception to foreign sovereign immunity set forth in section 1605(a)(3) of such title."
H.R. 4386 — "To allow the Secretary of the Treasury to rely on State examinations for certain financial institutions, and for other purposes."

USA Today reports, “President Obama seeks to illustrate the climate change issue Tuesday in a unique way: By speaking with local television weather people. As the government issues a major report on climate change, Obama conducts interviews with meteorologists from New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and Columbia, S.C. The event -- dubbed ‘Weather from the White House’ -- comes the same day as release of the National Climate Assessment, which details the potential dangers of global warming.”

Politico adds, “President Barack Obama will be meeting with some of television’s most popular celebrities — weather forecasters — to ratchet up the volume on the administration’s latest scientific assessment of climate change. They include the Today Show’s Al Roker, who tweeted Monday that he was one of the local and national meteorologists to score a one-on-one interview with the president. . . . Tuesday’s rollout comes about a month before EPA is scheduled to issue its most ambitious climate regulation yet — a rule aimed at reducing greenhouse gas pollution from the nation’s thousands of existing power plants.”

Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell explained the problem with the president’s focus. “Later today, we expect the President to talk about the weather at the White House. Presumably, he’ll use the platform to renew his call for a national energy tax. And I’m sure he’ll get loud cheers from liberal elites — from the kind of people who leave a giant carbon footprint and then lecture everybody else about low-flow toilets. But the vast majority of Middle Class Kentuckians I represent actually have to worry about things like paying utility bills. And putting food on the table. And finding a job in this terrible economy. They’re less interested in ‘just doing something’ on energy — they want to do the smart thing. What they want are practical solutions to the problems and the stresses they’re dealing with every day. That’s what we should be focusing on this week — because this debate shouldn’t be about alleviating the guilt complexes of liberal elites. It should be about actually achieving the best outcome for the environment, for energy security, and – most importantly – for the people we were sent here to represent.”

It’s quite clear whom the president is talking to with today’s PR push, and it’s not middle class America. The Wall Street Journal observed yesterday, “Today, with the midterm election campaigns approaching, independents are as disillusioned with the president as they’ve been in years. Their sour mood poses a particular challenge for Democrats in the midterms. Making the challenge all the more daunting, the policy initiatives showcased by Mr. Obama in recent months have all been aimed at motivating the party’s liberal base. . . . What’s different this time around is that Mr. Obama isn’t making any special overtures to independents. The president’s 2015 budget called for spending increases in education and job training, ditching a plan he embraced in the past that slowed the growth of Social Security costs through an adjustment in the inflation measure. Midterm elections often hinge on which of the two parties does a better job of mobilizing base votes. The White House is emphasizing pay equity for women and the minimum wage. . . . It’s the stuff that excites party activists and liberals. Swing voters? Maybe not as much.”

In contrast to President Obama’s focus on the narrow interests of the Far Left, Leader McConnell explained Republicans are focused on energy solutions that will help middle class Americans and create jobs. “Our constituents are being hurt because of a cynical political agenda, because of a War on Coal and other sources of American energy that the Far Left flank of the Democrat Party demands. And the Middle Class doesn’t even have a meaningful say in this discussion, because the President has decided the Congress the people elect doesn’t really matter anymore.

“Republicans are trying to change that this week. We’ve asked the Democrat Majority Leader to allow votes on energy amendments that would let our constituents have a say for once. My constituents in Kentucky should be able to weigh in on an EPA rule that would negatively impact existing and future coal plants. Kentuckians deserve a real say on ongoing regulatory efforts to tie up mining permits — and the red tape that’s stifling the creation of good jobs in coal country. Our constituents should finally be truly heard on the Keystone Pipeline they overwhelmingly support. And the American people deserve a real debate on how we can best tap our own extraordinary natural resources to achieve energy independence at home and how we can help our allies overseas through increased exports of American energy.

“These are the kinds of things we should be voting on this week — proposals that can help our economy and boost Middle Class incomes and jobs while strengthening our national security and lessening our dependence on foreign sources of energy. But we can’t move forward if the Democrats who run the Senate keep trying to protect the President at the expense of serving their constituents.”

McConnell concluded, “the American Middle Class is hurting. By a two-to-one margin, Americans say the country’s economic conditions are poor. Only about a quarter say there are enough jobs available where they live. And they’ve been suffering from years of spiking electricity prices that would only get worse if the President’s agenda were fully realized. These are the people who deserve our attention and support. Not the Far Left. Not the activists who yell the loudest and appear to care the least about who their ideas hurt. And not the President’s political fixers in the White House.”

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