Posted on 11/22/2008 1:05:11 AM PST by bruinbirdman
By a vote of 137-22 among Democrats in the House of Representatives Thursday, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., ousted Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., as the chairman of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee.
Waxman's victory is a seismic event on Capitol Hill, as he has unseated one of the most powerful members of Congress, who since 1981 has been the top Democrat on the influential Energy and Commerce Committee. But it was not entirely unexpected. Wednesday, the party's panel that votes on committee chairmanships gave Waxman the nod by a 25-22 vote.
However, it's also a signal that Democrats are looking for a slate of leaders that is less likely to clash with President-elect Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on energy and climate issues.
"A Waxman win changes the character of House Democrats' views toward coal and cars, the two principal sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. economy," says Kevin Book, an energy analyst with FBR Capital Markets (nasdaq: FBCM).
No word yet from Detroit, but the Big Three can't be thrilled. During the debate over last year's energy bill, which modified fuel economy standards, Pelosi was forced to work out a compromise with Dingell to pass the bill. Dingell's critics have often claimed that if he weren't the committee's chairman, fuel economy standards would have been raised long ago, though it should be noted that Republicans could have done the same thing when they controlled the committee from 1994 to 2006.
GM and Ford were also among Dingell's top seven contributors, each providing the Michigan Democrat with $13,000 during the 2008 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
On the environmental issues, Waxman, by contrast, has favored strict cuts on greenhouse gas emissions.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Brought to you by a party that wants “card check” but votes in their party leaders in secret.
Yeah, them “Blue Dog Democrats” sure have put the brakes on the Democrats screaming leftward tilt.
It's more a sign that the Rats are going full-tilt left as fast as they can. Waxman makes my skin crawl for some reason, even more than most of the Socialist Mafia.
you might know but many others might not, Waxman is like a mob boss in L.A. in the fact that he ran unopposed this time. That’s right. No Repubilcan ran against him. All you had to pick from the ballot was Waxman’s name. How this guy ever became so powerful is beyond me.
Democrats are not in Congress to help the American people prosper. They are there to RULE the American people. They never cared a sh** about you, your well being, your country’s well being, all they ever cared about is their ability to RULE over you, and of course fly around in their huge taxpayer paid for airplanes looking down on the little people.
"So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted." - Barack Obama
Meet Rep.Henry Waxman of Beverly Hills
This is definatlely something to be worried about. Throughout Bush's 2 terms, we never heard the end of it from the left wingers how Bush was going to implement tyranny, blah blah blah. We won't hear a peep from these concerned civil rights activists when the Obama’s brown shirts take to the streets.
In case you hadn't read about this. Ping.
The Uber-Nerd announces that it’s payback time for all those tall guys at the top of the corporate ladder.
And Heaven help the rest of us.
YeeGads!
GC are here right now, I’ll come back and read it later.
I wondered how he got that glitter all over his bald head. It's glued on with ti++ie sweat. That little wascal. (:^|))
Blame the GOP for putting up such poor candidates, and having such a terrible president.
Screw the Demohacks and the messiah. Move business offshore..well not Five Guys Burgers and Fries. They can stay.
They don't even know what they voted for. They'll find out.
If W was a halfway decent president, and McCain a halfway decent candidate, then Obama wouldn’t have won in spite of media bias.
You do not know that some other candidate would have won.
We have an ignorant electorate that follow the crowd. Voter fraud is rampant.
Illegal immigrants contribute to the fraud.
It is interesting that last night Kondracke was pointing out that Republicans are not reaching out to Latinos. That is laughable considering how pro-immigrant was McCain.
Everyone has answers. There are those who say Republicans were not conservative enough and there are those who say Republicans are too conservative. Everyone is an expert.
Thanks for making my point. The GOP tried to outspend and out-pander the Democrats. If they want to win, they have to be pro-America, pro-Americans, and come up with the best ideas for the country, like they did under Reagan and in 1994.
Keep blaming the people for this (Carter's strategy) and the GOP will never win again.
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