Posted on 11/07/2002 9:15:19 AM PST by Robert357
Just two weeks ago, Senate Democrats had plans to investigate Enron, with a special eye toward California's claim that it is owed $8 billion in refunds as recompense for power company shenanigans that fueled the state's energy crisis.
Now that hearing will probably never happen.
Voters definitively returned control of the U.S. Senate to Republicans on Tuesday, handing the party back the chamber that Sen. James Jeffords gave to Democrats last year when he left the GOP to become an independent, tipping the party balance-of-power scales.
One immediate result is that the GOP will once again decide what each committee will and won't work on. And helping California is not high on their to-do list.
"We need to have a budget to begin with," Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who likely will become Senate Majority Leader, told CNN Wednesday. "We need pension reform, welfare reform. We need to do more in education. ... Let's look at what we can do to target some tax cuts that would help the economy. Let's have fiscal restraint."
For California's two Democratic senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, the upheaval means a swift loss of the influential positions they've held since last April.
Boxer cast the party switch as a blow to her agenda while Feinstein stressed her cooperation with Republicans in issues like visa reform and border security. While she expressed concern about the fate of some California-centric legislation like the CalFed bill to map out water resources, Feinstein said she believed she can continue to pass important legislation including a reauthorization of an assault weapons ban.
"Personally, I tried to work across the aisle. I think that most people who have watched know that. I've also tried in my own right to be independent," Feinstein said, adding of the committee swaps, "I don't see a lot of downsides. I just keep going the way I'm going."
Feinstein will lose her chairmanship of a Judiciary Committee panel on terrorism and technology, handing over the reigns to Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz. She said she expects to stay on the Senate Energy Committee -- a seat she picked up last year when Democrats took control and increased their numbers on committees -- as well as the all-important appropriations panel that directs federal funding.
Boxer will no longer chair a Foreign Relations Committee panel on terrorism. That position will go to Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. She also will turn over the gavel for the Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee on toxic cleanup to Sen. Lincoln Chaffee, R-R.I.
"It hurts," Boxer said of the affect losing those positions to Republicans will have on her pet issues.
"Clearly I'm a very strong environmentalist. They are not going to have hearings on things that look into the rollback of the Clean Air Act ... They don't want to look at how FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) is hurting California by not issuing rebates. So we're going to have to be creative.
"Look," Boxer said, "I've been there before."
I think a whole new dynamic at FERC will become visible pretty soon.
The author of this article understood that concept very well and outlined it and other implications of the Tuesday Republicanization of the federal government.
Should be interesting to follow.
One immediate result is that the GOP will once again decide what each committee will and won't work on. And helping California is not high on their to-do list.
Great news.
I hope they have my state, New Jersey, on their pay-no-mind list as well.
Let Corzine and Lautencelli sit in the corner and stew.
Federal pork never did me no good anyway.
This is well-pleasing!
Why bother? They kept Davis. They get what they asked for.
It's like paying for a dead horse.
We hope she won't be there much longer. We need to set our sites on 2004 and make the effort to oust dear Barbara. Simon's excellent showing last Tuesday indicates that maybe ... just maybe .... this state could start turning around for the better. Defeating Boxer should be a priority.
And Strom Thurmans. The dumpocraps lied to him, too.
sites = sights
Lets hope not. Of course here in Kalifornistan we already have more restrictive state laws, so it really won't make much difference personally. But it will be a test of the NRA's strength in the new Congress.
Crap! Not Again! "Hey Tommy, even though we kicked your ass in a mid-term election, how about we cuddle together and talk about power-sharing."
Grrrr....
Like politically correct organically grown coffee in the coffee shops only? Those who sell another type face jail time? Man, I'm glad that legislation failed. Talk about commies!
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