Posted on 08/06/2008 3:29:22 AM PDT by BellStar
House Republicans are demanding a vote on expanded oil drilling. A Republican plan to open more public land to oil exploration and drilling is unworthy of serious debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Monday.
Under pressure from Republicans to call Congress back into session, Pelosi on Monday issued a statement saying that Democrats have already offered a real solution to the nations high energy prices.
Democrats want to force President Bush to free our oil from the nations emergency stockpile. Diverting oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would bring immediate relief within 10 days, Pelosi insisted.
She said a Republican plan to give away public lands to Big Oil will not immediately reduce prices at the pump -- and it would save Americans only 2 cents ten years from now.
This Republican hoax is unworthy of the serious debate we must have to reduce the price at the pump and promote energy independence, Pelosi said.
Pelosi accused Republicans of promoting the interests of Big Oil and the Bush administration, something that has resulted in $4-a-gallon gasoline, she said.
Republicans favor an all-of-the-above approach to the energy crunch. They want expanded domestic oil drilling, expanded nuclear power, conservation, and the development of alternative sources of energy.
Pelosi, however, refuses to even allow a vote on expanded domestic oil drilling. She and other Democrats say oil companies should drill on the 68 million acres they already control -- an argument dismissed by the oil companies, who say they already stand to forfeit any leases they fail to develop within a set period of time.
House Democrats also are pressing for new investments in renewable energy, increasing vehicle fuel efficiency standards, making mass transit more affordable, cracking down on price gouging, and releasing oil from the government's stockpile.
As for complaints about the do-nothing Congress, Pelosi on Monday said Democrats are aggressively addressing the range of economic issues confronting American families.
In the past few weeks, she noted, Democrats have protected homeowners from foreclosure, invested in college affordability, ensured (that) women receive equal pay for equal work, protected our children from toxic toys and products, and made another historic investment in veterans care.
Democrats are producing and passing real economic solutions for the American people," Pelosi said.
Oh no theyre not, Republicans say.
Republicans insist the most pressing issue for Americans is the high cost of gasoline, so rather than leave Washington for five weeks, House Republicans are demanding that Pelosi call Congress back into session to vote on domestic oil drilling legislation.
On Friday, as soon as the House was adjourned, Republican lawmakers took over the chamber, protesting the Democrats decision to go on a five-week recesss without doing anything about high energy prices.
The protest continued on Monday. House Republicans took turns speaking on the House floor to members of the public many wearing tank tops, t-shirts and shorts. Tourists were invited to sit in seats normally reserved for Congressmen.
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) told CNSNews.com that he has not heard from Pelosi since Republicans began the stand-in on the House floor. He said he was not sure how many more days Republicans would continue speaking.
We just kind of made this up at about 11:20 on Friday, he said.
Pence and others resumed speaking on Monday and ended for the day shortly before 4:30 p.m.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), said on the floor that to see citizens on the floor of the House the peoples House warms my heart. He asked members of the public to be an echo chamber for the Republicans cause, drawing applause from the audience.
I hope this sends a strong message that the American public is starting to feel like theyre being energized, that theyre being given a sounding board, that theyre becoming an echo chamber for their own point of view and that there are some people that are speaking to their issues and voicing their concerns, he told CNSNews.com later.
The positive response from the public was the most encouraging aspect of the Republican stand-in, Pence told CNSNews.com.
My hope is that as we stay consistent and focused and provide a respectful debate on the floor of the Congress that more Americans will see that there are members of Congress that want to be working and are ready to role our sleeves up and achieve a bipartisan compromise that includes conservation, new technologies, fuel efficiency and more drilling, he said.
This is not partisan-driven, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said about the Republican decision to remain on Capitol Hill. Its about America.
Pelosi has to be the dumbest yet most dangerous Speaker of the House in american history. The “ 2 cents in 10 years “ argument shows how clueless she really is. She must be stopped before this country’s economy is completely destroyed.
The 2 cents argument must be defeated resoundly.
The word is out around here. But, the American electorate is easily fooled and does not believe that the dem policies of the last two years is the reason behind the high prices.
Her face is a hoax.
I have faith (call me foolish I guess) that the American public overall will see her for what she is and decided to make some changes. We’ll see...
That’s assuming we can outbid the rest of the world for the oil.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
LET the dems found out how fool they are!
GO PELOSI GO ! Show the people who you are!
Hillary Clinton needs to school Pelosi on the basics of futures and commodity trading. Even a business school flunkie knows that the price of a commodity is based in part upon future expectations of supply and demand.
About a month ago, President Bush lifted the executive ban on off-shore drilling (something he should have done eight years ago, but that's for another thread.) Although the lifting of the executive moratorium was a symbolic gesture, it did light a fire under the Republicans in the "Do-Nothing Congress" to finally push our Nation's energy policy to the forefront of debate (something that the Republicans in Congress also should have done eight years ago, but again, that's for another thread). John McCain has also jumped on the bandwagon and has been hammering BHO on the energy issue.
And look what has happened in the last month or so since Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore drilling and the Republican Congress began pushing the energy debate: Without actually doing anything to increase the domestic energy supply, the price of a oil has dropped from over $145 a barrel to under $120 a barrel and the average price for a gallon of gas at the pump has dropped by about $.20.
Part of the price drop is probably attributable to reduced demand, but domestic demand has been going down for months as the price has been going up. The primary reason for the drop is an expectation among futures speculators and oil producing nations that the United States of America is actually series about exploiting its own natural resources and ingenuity, and that we could be energy independent in less than twenty years. Indeed, there is nothing that puts more fear in the minds of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, and our other oil-producing enemies than a United States of America that is energy independent. For that reason, I expect the price of oil to continue to fall (note, I didn't say "crash") to below the point where the price of gas is not longer the main topic of debate and the cost of exploiting alternative energy sources no longer makes short-term economic sense.
It doesn't say much about half the US population, does it? I blame public indoctrination/education for dumbing down our populous and setting us up for some future dictator.
sad times ahead, I am afraid. However, I will keep doing what is right and I will teach my children to do what is right, and I and you will reach out to others through medium like FR to do what is right.
The dims want to force us to use public transportation.
The dims want to penalize the people who have moved out of their sink hole cities.
The dims want the economy to tank, it makes them more vital to the bloodsuckers, and increases the number of bloodsuckers.
High gas prices are a dim political strategy.
Republican Party of Texas Thanks Our GOP Congressional Members for Fighting the Good Fight to Lower Gas Prices
Sends Do-Nothing Congressional House Democrats Gift Baskets With Items They May Need After Leaving Voters High and Dry
List of gift basket contents:
A tire pressure gauge: Also known as the Obama Energy Plan.
Pinwheels: Democrats can finally harness the power of their hot air and put it to good use.
Bucket and shovel: While the Democrats are vacationing on the beach for five weeks, they can begin exploring for oil.
Magic wand: How else is a Democrat-majority Congress going to pass sensible energy legislation?
Five dollar gas card: By the time the Democrats come home from vacation, they may need this to pay for one gallon of gas.
Sun glasses: Just in case the Democrats run on solar power, they will be able to work from the pool.
Today Nancy’s going to save the planet. Last week she was Joan of Arc.
How anyone, let alone someone in such a powerful and influential position, could say such a blatant lie and expect us to believe it should be grounds for impeachment on the basis of her being too stupid for the job.
If global demand for oil continues to increase and we do nothing to increase our own supply, imagine how high the pump price will be 10 years from now. To paraphrase Confucius, the best time to drill is ten years ago; the second best time is now.
Pelosi is a “post turtle”:
“When you’re driving down a country road, and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a post turtle. You know he didn’t get there by himself, he doesn’t belong there, he can’t get anything done while he’s up there, and you just want to help the poor thing down.”
A liberal is a rare mixture of high concentrations of
arrogance and ignorance.
(You have to be too damned ignorant to understand that you DON’T “know better” than everyone else.)
Talk show host this morning, on airline prices:
“It’s getting to be that only the ultra-rich will be able to fly, and only the rich will be able to travel by car.”
Uh... that’s the whole point. The left are elitists, and they don’t want anyone else to have access to the same “luxuries” that they do.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.