House GOP in no mood to compromise

Hot Air ^ | August 17, 2008 | Ed Morrissey

[Delacon]

Unlike some of their colleagues in the Senate, House Republicans have rejected a minimal effort to compromise offered by Nancy Pelosi on energy policy.  After floating a proposal that would have allowed very limited drilling in exchange for windfall-profits taxes and depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Pelosi got the door slammed in her face by the GOP members participating in the House Oil Party this month.  Their message — follow or get out of the way:

Republicans lambasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) energy plan Saturday advising her to “get out of the way” if she was not going to accept GOP solutions to the energy crisis.

In her Saturday radio address Pelosi announced that Democrats would consider opening up parts of the outer continental shelf for drilling as a part of a broad new energy plan that will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

The Democratic initiative will also seek to release oil from the 700 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve, require oil companies to pay billions of dollars Democrats believe they owe to invest in clean energy resources, increase the use natural gas and create a federal Renewable Electricity Standard.

Jeb Hensarling scornfully asked the Speaker to “get out of the way” and allow the Republicans to implement the solutions desired by the vast majority of the electorate.  Adam Putnam added that Pelosi’s weak proposal qualified her as the the most qualified poster child for Democratic intransigence on energy.  They made clear that they have no reason to compromise on drilling, and see no need for distractions like an SPR release.

That notion belies the entire underpinning of the Democratic policy on domestic production.  They claim that we “cannot drill our way out of this crisis,” and yet the SPR release would temporarily do what expanded domestic production would do for decades.  If one cannot produce one’s way out of a supply crisis, then what effect would an SPR release have?  At the same time, with a war in the Caucasus and Americans fighting in two theaters in Asia, not only would a reduction in the SPR make the military more vulnerable to supply disruptions, it would require us to replace what gets depleted.  If we’re not producing our own oil to do that, we’ll only raise prices again as we stoke demand.

And now we have yet another reason to start producing our own oil.  Vladimir Putin has rebuilt his empire-hungry nation’s military strength on the high price of crude oil and natural gas — prices we support with our demands on the international market.  Any long-term strategy of containment regarding Moscow has to include a deep cut to the price supports for crude oil.  The best way we can effect that is to vastly increase our own production (and refinement) of oil, and get out of the international market.  Prices will drop dramatically, and Russia, Iran, Sudan, and other problem nations will suddenly have a lot less cash with which to make trouble.

Unlike the Gang of 10 in the Senate, the House Republicans understand this, and the need to remain firm.  We need to encourage the House leadership to take ownership of this issue back from the compromisers in the Senate.

[Gone_Postal]

the only reason the dems what to use the SPR is to insure American Military Defeat

[lt.america]

I think McCains performance last night just put the Dems in a far worse position than they already are on this issue. I know that there are many within the party that completely hate the man, but McCain demonstrated the kind leadership that this party needs last night.

Keep up the pressure.

[beethovenfan]

Republicans with balls!! What a novelty!

[Delacon]

Oh she was a brilliant dingbat. I tend not to shoot the messenger but evaluate the message. In many cases she had some great ideas.

[alloysteel]

The House GOP is not the Senate GOP, which has had a strategic portion of its members play roll over and die.

The five GOP members of the “Gang of Ten” should be under unrelenting bombardment, to get them to disband and stand down. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga), and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), make up the Republican part of these double-dealers. What they have offered so far is a “compromise” that is but a continuation of the “no-drill” prohibitions carved into law over the past thirty+ years. We are a lot smarter now, the wilderness CAN be drilled without compromising its “pristine” character. The same for seabed drilling.

The “alternative energy” plans being offered, are decades away, and we are in great and abiding need of the access to energy NOW. Hydrogen as a source of portable energy is only viable if there is an extraordinarily cheap method of producing and distributing hydrogen, less expensive than the distribution of liquid fuels.

That is the huge advantage of petroleum, it is easily transported and it has a relatively high energy density per pound. In fact, making coal into a liquid fuel, or converting natural gas to a liquid form by reformulation, are both being studied. The basic research is completed, it is a cost factor now. When coal-to-liquid-fuel is competitive in price to refining most grades of petroleum, that shall be our major source of liquid fuels.

Or it could be. There were huge grants made back in the Carter years to scale up and make coal-to-liquid-fuel competitive, at which point, the Saudis pulled an old trick of oligopolies everywhere, and boosted their production so as to make the new source of hydrocarbon fuels no longer economically feasible to produce. When the infrastructure to support the new fuel industry collapsed, the Saudis reverted to the old practice of skinning every customer that walked in the door.

[mplsconservative]

Yea, the house GOP won’t compromise, they will totally roll over dead, cry like babies and surrender. What a bunch of spineless, worthless wimps.

You must get all your news from the MSM.

[Delacon]

bump

[wendy1946]

Nazi Piglosi is a joke.

[J40000]

C'mon... Do it... DO IT!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The Democratic initiative will also seek to release oil from the 700 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve, require oil companies to pay billions of dollars Democrats believe they owe to invest in clean energy resources, increase the use natural gas and create a federal Renewable Electricity Standard.

This is all a bunch of smoke and mirrors and I'm glad the House GOP had the foresight to see it as such. Releasing oil from the SPR will only provide relief for about two weeks and we'll be right back where we are now. Forcing oil companies to pay more taxes will only go to the Dems' enviro-wacko special-interest groups, and besides both the federal government and the oil companies are already spending millions in clean energy. And a Renewable Electricity Standard? More federal government bureaucracy.

The RINOs in the Senate have got to come to their senses or else the party is doomed in November.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Yea, the house GOP won’t compromise, they will totally roll over dead, cry like babies and surrender. What a bunch of spineless, worthless wimps.

Re-read the link in the article. The House GOP is NOT compromising or rolling over. Where the Hell have you been the past couple of weeks?

Give these guys support instead of criticizing them all the time.

[Mad Dawg]

Wow, a few Republicans broke into the testosterone locker! Great!

[PROTESTBYPROXY]

GET ON THE GOP WEBSITE AND E-BLAST THE IDIOT SENATE 10. TELL THEM THEY WORK FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NOT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

” Releasing oil from the SPR will only provide relief for about two weeks and we’ll be right back where we are now.”
Ah! But,,, if the dems release the oil two weeks before election day,,, and the sheeple see the price falling,,,,they’ll vote for the dems..Who cares what happens after election day? As long as they’ve won, who cares?

[TYVets]

DO NOT COMPROMISE.

When the Republicans won control of the house with their "Contract for America" they forgot they had a back bone.

Could we be seeing the start of Republicans with a spine?

DO NOT COMPROMISE, GO FOR SELF SUFFENCY!

Grow a backbone, who knows I might start making donations to the RNC again.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Drill now or DRILL in November! (Don't Reelect Insipient Lollygagging Loonies!)

[Delacon]

GET ON THE GOP WEBSITE AND E-BLAST THE IDIOT SENATE 10. TELL THEM THEY WORK FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NOT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.

Here, let me help. Click on your senator's name to contact them.

36 Senators to Reid: Don’t extend the bans on American Energy

August 12th, 2008

36 Senators have now signed this letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) vowing to support American Energy Freedom Day.

Dear Senators Reid and McConnell,

It is our hope that Democrats and Republicans will stand together to support American Energy Freedom Day on October 1, 2008. On this day, the current prohibitions on oil and gas exploration off the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and in the oil-shale fields of the West will expire, giving Americans the freedom to access their own energy and providing them with relief from sky-high prices at the pump.

We strongly encourage you to allow the expiration of these prohibitions on American energy exploration and production, as scheduled under current law, and we will actively oppose any attempt to extend them. Now is not the time to deny Americans access to their own energy supply.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to working with you to ensure a victory for the American people on American Energy Freedom Day.

This letter will be sent to Senators Reid and McConnell after the Senate returns from its August break. Contact the Senators who have not signed it and urge them to sign this pledge to protect American Energy Freedom Day.

Senators Who Have Signed Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) Allard, Wayne (R-CO) Barrasso, John (R-WY) Bennett, Robert F. (R-UT) Bond, Christopher S. (R-MO) Brownback, Sam (R-KS) Bunning, Jim (R-KY) Burr, Richard (R-NC) Coburn, Tom (R-OK) Cochran, Thad (R-MS) Cornyn, John (R-TX) Craig, Larry E. (R-ID) Crapo, Mike (R-ID) DeMint, Jim (R-SC) Domenici, Pete V. (R-NM) Ensign, John (R-NV) Enzi, Michael B. (R-WY) Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) Gregg, Judd (R-NH) Hatch, Orrin G. (R-UT) Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) Inhofe, James M. (R-OK) Isakson, Johnny (R-GA) Lugar, Richard G. (R-IN) Martinez, Mel (R-FL) Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK) Roberts, Pat (R-KS) Sessions, Jeff (R-AL) Shelby, Richard C. (R-AL) Stevens, Ted (R-AK) Sununu, John E. (R-NH) Vitter, David (R-LA) Voinovich, George V. (R-OH) Warner, John (R-VA) Wicker, Roger F. (R-MS)

Senators Who Have Not Signed Akaka, Daniel K. (D-HI) Baucus, Max (D-MT) Bayh, Evan (D-IN) Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (D-DE) Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM) Boxer, Barbara (D-CA) Brown, Sherrod (D-OH) Byrd, Robert C. (D-WV) Cantwell, Maria (D-WA) Cardin, Benjamin L. (D-MD) Carper, Thomas R. (D-DE) Casey, Robert P., Jr. (D-PA) Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) Clinton, Hillary Rodham (D-NY) Coleman, Norm (R-MN) Collins, Susan M. (R-ME) Conrad, Kent (D-ND) Corker, Bob (R-TN) Dodd, Christopher J. (D-CT) Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) Dorgan, Byron L. (D-ND) Durbin, Richard (D-IL) Feingold, Russell D. (D-WI) Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) Hagel, Chuck (R-NE) Harkin, Tom (D-IA) Inouye, Daniel K. (D-HI) Johnson, Tim (D-SD) Kennedy, Edward M. (D-MA) Kerry, John F. (D-MA) Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN) Kohl, Herb (D-WI) Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) Landrieu, Mary L. (D-LA) Lautenberg, Frank R. (D-NJ) Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT) Levin, Carl (D-MI) Lieberman, Joseph I. (ID-CT) Lincoln, Blanche L. (D-AR) McCain, John (R-AZ) McCaskill, Claire (D-MO) Menendez, Robert (D-NJ) Mikulski, Barbara A. (D-MD) Murray, Patty (D-WA) Nelson, Bill (D-FL) Nelson, E. Benjamin (D-NE) Obama, Barack (D-IL) Pryor, Mark L. (D-AR) Reed, Jack (D-RI) Rockefeller, John D., IV (D-WV) Salazar, Ken (D-CO) Sanders, Bernard (I-VT) Schumer, Charles E. (D-NY) Smith, Gordon H. (R-OR) Snowe, Olympia J. (R-ME) Specter, Arlen (R-PA) Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI) Tester, Jon (D-MT) Thune, John (R-SD) Webb, Jim (D-VA) Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI) Wyden, Ron (D-OR)

[Fishrrman]

“Pelosi got the door slammed in her face by the GOP members participating in the House Oil Party this month. Their message — follow or get out of the way”

Actually, the BEST solution here is for the Republicans to “get out of the way”, too.

That is - if no action is taken - even if NO legislation is passed of ANY kind - the offshore drilling ban WILL expire on September 30th.

It should be permitted to die a “natural death”. Nothing - repeated for emphasis: NOTHING should be done to try to “compromise” in the face of its coming demise.

This is the essential first step to be taken before ANY type of legislation is enacted to improve America’s energy outlook in the future.

Of course, the Pubbies are going to take a lot of heat if they are to go this way. The ‘rats - and the sycophant media that supports them - will SCREAM BLOODY MURDER that “no action is being taken!!!!”

It will be difficult for Republicans to resist such torments. Yet to win, we must hold our ground.

One thing is certain: if the Republicans fall to the ‘rat’s temptation for “compromise legislation”, they are going to lose. They - and WE - will loose this as surely as if we had fallen for Congress’ temptation of “guest workers” and “comprehensive immigration reform”. Everyone on FR knows what that meant.

In the face of the immigration controversy, the cries from the conservative side were, “build the wall first!” Secure the borders, then we’ll talk about what’s next.

So it must be with taking the chains off energy production here in the U.S.A.

Simply letting the ban expire on its own, is as important and essential a step as securing the border.

Once the ban is gone, then - and ONLY then - should we entertain legislative solutions to address our energy problems.

DO NOT COMPROMISE!
LET THE BAN EXPIRE ON SEPTEMBER 30th!

- John

[Syncro]

These evil self-serving socialist un-American liberal politicians are out to further themselves and their goals and need to be watched like a mad dog foaming at the mouth.

All their lip service means nothing, they know what is being demanding so naturally they are saying the "right" things to continue to pull the wool over American Citizen's eyes.

Any and every bill that they will agree to or write will be full wording that looks good but will counteract any good in the process.

After floating a proposal that would have allowed very limited drilling in exchange for windfall-profits taxes and depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Pelosi got the door slammed in her face by the GOP members participating in the House Oil Party this month.  Their message — follow or get out of the way

In her Saturday radio address Pelosi announced that Democrats would consider opening up parts of the outer continental shelf for drilling as a part of a broad new energy plan that will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Broad New Energy Plan: Read more taxes on Oil Companies (which will raise the price of gas and other oil based products) and massive restrictions and regulations on exploration, drilling, pumping, and transporting oil to market. At every phase of the process. As evidenced in the next paragraph of this article:

The Democratic initiative will also seek to release oil from the 700 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve, require oil companies to pay billions of dollars Democrats believe they owe to invest in clean energy resources, increase the use natural gas and create a federal Renewable Electricity Standard

This is the solution:

...include a deep cut to the price supports for crude oil. The best way we can effect that is to vastly increase our own production (and refinement) of oil, and get out of the international market. Prices will drop dramatically, and Russia, Iran, Sudan, and other problem nations will suddenly have a lot less cash with which to make trouble.

Again, they need to be watched like hawks. And not just the Democrats. A lot of those in the GOP have deep rooted rationalizations (like the democrats involving $$$ for themselves) for opposing the will of the American people also.

This combination will do anything it can to forestall energy independence for our country.

Using as much of our own oil based resources is vital to the survival of our country.

We can and must drillheredrillnow. And pumpherepumpnow.

I always include PUMP as there are many wells that were capped off at peak production functionality by environmentalists and liberal/socialist anti-American politicians decades ago. They can be producing in much less than a year.

Every bill that the democrats agree upon must be vetted deeply and they must be forced to allow unfettered oil based (and nuclear) production to be put on line ASAP.

[Delacon]

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Pelosi has done an end run around letting the drilling ban expire. The extension of the drilling ban has always been attached to some “must have” appropriations bill. Now it will be attached to some “can’t tolerate” energy bill.