Posted on 10/28/2005 3:36:20 PM PDT by prairiebreeze
Senate Democrats, sensing what they hope will be an opportunity to blame Republicans for the high price of gasoline, voted in unison Wednesday in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to help defeat a bill that would have streamlined the building of new refineries.
The eight committee Democrats won over liberal Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.-R.I.), whose vote against Chairman Jim Inhofe’s Gas PRICE Act (S 1772) means Republicans will have to take other steps if they want to push a refinery bill through the Senate this year.
Inhofe (R.-Okla.) told HUMAN EVENTS he pleaded with Chafee to vote with the committee’s nine other Republicans on the measure because Democrats were opposing the bill for purely partisan reasons. In the end, however, Chafee sided with Democrats.
“I went to Lincoln Chafee,” Inhofe told HUMAN EVENTS in an exclusive interview, “and I said, ‘Lincoln, I know you’re from Rhode Island, and I know from time to time you have to cave in to these people because you’re in a tight election, but their motivation is to blame Republicans for something the Republicans didn’t do, and you’re a Republican.’”
Inhofe added: “In the next election, high gas prices will be one of the Democrats’ big campaign issues.”
Chafee’s spokesman, Stephen Hourahan, said the senator voted against the bill because he believed it weakened environmental standards, and didn’t address alternative fuels and fuel-economy standards. Despite these objections, Chafee offered no amendments.
Democrat Demagoguery
Environmentalists opposed Inhofe’s bill for its provisions to expand refinery capacity, streamline refinery permitting and simplify so-called boutique fuel requirements. It also would have provided federal assistance for the construction of refineries on closed military bases, which could have been producing gas in about two years, Inhofe said.
But with Republicans unable to corral Chafee, Inhofe said the GOP reached out to three committee Democrats—Senators Max Baucus (Mont.), Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.)—all of whom faced pressure from home-state industries to vote in favor of the bill. Not one switched sides, however, resulting in a 9-to-9 stalemate on the bill.
Democrats, Inhofe said, are employing a strategy to defeat any measure that might reduce the cost of gasoline.
“The Democrats are all going to vote against it for one reason,” Inhofe said Tuesday as he scrambled to find one more supporter on his committee. “They want to make sure nothing happens to bring the price of gasoline at the pumps down, because that’s the issue they want to use for the elections next year.”
Inhofe said his measure was just one example. In the House, Rep. Joe Barton (R.-Tex.) barely won passage of a bill that encourages refinery construction. Not one House Democrat voted for the bill, which barely passed, 212-210, after arm-twisting several GOP moderates.
Inhofe’s observation about Democrats was confirmed Thursday when Senators Teddy Kennedy (D.-Mass.), Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y.), Debbie Stabenow (D.-Mich.), Mark Dayton (D.-Minn.) and Ron Wyden (D.-Ore.) engaged in demagoguery, accusing oil companies of raking in huge profits with little regard for the impact on consumers’ wallets. Democrats made the same arguments a day before at the committee meeting.
But regardless of the Democrats’ over-arching political strategy, it was Chafee’s vote that ultimately sank the bill. It was the second time this year Chafee’s opposition to a GOP-backed measure—he voted against President Bush’s “Clear Skies” air-quality bill—resulted in a deadlocked vote.
Hourahan, the senator’s spokesman, said Chafee was balancing the needs of his state when he cast his “no” vote on the Gas PRICE Act. Rhode Island has two shuttered military bases that could be used, although Hourahan said local opposition to such a plan was strong.
Even though Chafee is facing a Republican primary challenge, his opponent, former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey, has actually been running a populist-themed campaign. Laffey, whose spokeswoman didn’t return calls to HUMAN EVENTS, recently attacked oil companies for their huge profits.
“[Chafee] is a Republican who is running in the most Democrat state in the country,” Hourahan said. “Rhode Island is a very environmentally sensitive state, and we have people there who clearly would not have appreciated it if the senator had voted for this bill, which would have allowed two sites in Rhode Island to potentially have a refinery.”
Inhofe said Chafee had no excuse to oppose the bill.
“He sweats a lot,” Inhofe told HUMAN EVENTS. “He said, ‘I just can’t do that. I have to win that election. Right now I have a perfect record with the environmentalists.’ And I said, ‘This is different. This is Democrat vs. Republican. It has nothing to do with the environmentalists.’”
Yer left, yer left, yer left-right-left...lockstep.
And isn't Lincoln just a special little RINO piece of work..
another reason for a Major league RINO hunt in 06 & 08
Max Dufus strikes again.
He is a one man advertisement for term limits.
Like that will happen.
This is exactly where Republicans need to get tough even if Chafee becomes a Dim. Get him off the committee. Play hardball. Today's actions including SP Fritz, demand a "Shock & Awe" response from conservatives. Patience is no longer a virtue in this context. Patience is now a vice.
Never ceases to amaze how the Hate Bush Always crowd will twist everything into an excuse to rage at Bush.
In the Senate, seniority is the main thing that determines committee assignments.
ping
And the Bush administration wants this P.O.S. re-elected.
Whoever is in charge of the Republicans Senatorial campaign: Remember to send LOTS more $$$$ to Chafee so he can beat that dreadful Laffey who might be persuaded to vote with the rest of the Republicans at least once in a blue moon (unlike Chafee.) /s
If it had been anyone but Inhofe, Chafee might have gone along. Inhofe seems real conservative, AND an Oklahoman (perceived hick) so of course Chafee is being a bugger.
Barack wants to be Hillary's running mate. (ok, i'm being nice here).
For all the abuse the term RINO gets around here, Chafee deserves it, because he actually is a Repubican in name only. He isn't on our side of ANY big issue. There isn't another Republican senator you can say that about.
Support Laffey in '06.
I don't know if he can win against a Democrat, but we should try. Chafee has tried my last nerve. he is NO Republican. Time to drop him. Ditto DeWine.
The dems feared this bill very much so because it would have elminated a campaign issue. Why cant Chaffee see that?
If we could somehow convince Chafee to switch to the Democrats where he belongs, we would gain 2 net Republicans in each of the committees and sub-committees on which he sits. The GOP supposedly has a 2-member advantage in those committees, but because Chafee votes like a Democrat we end up with no better than an even split. Here's a more in-depth analysis of why we should kick Chafee off the GOP caucus: http://auh2orepublican.blogspot.com/2005/08/what-to-do-about-insufferable-senator.html
He isn't on our side of ANY big issue. There isn't another Republican senator you can say that about.
Beg to differ, McCain (shiver...)
"We should be addressing our consumption, not just demand,"
Hey D**kweed, consumption is demand.
This was reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Democrats are only mad because the "high" gas prices (still low today when adjusted for inflation than in the late 1970's) are market driven.
They love high gas prices when it fits their left wing agenda and is caused by their excessive taxes.
As a Rhode Islander, I'm proud to say that I can't stand Chafee and he's not a RINO in RI - everyone here calls him a democrat!
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