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California Democrat Nancy Pelosi may be trying to save the planet — but the rank and file in her party increasingly are just trying to save their political hides when it comes to gas prices as Republicans apply more and more rhetorical muscle. But what looks like intraparty tension on the surface is part of an intentional strategy in which Pelosi takes the heat on energy policy, while behind the scenes she’s encouraging vulnerable Democrats to express their independence if it helps them politically, according to Democratic aides on and off Capitol Hill. Pelosi’s gambit rests on one big assumption:...

California Democrat Nancy Pelosi may be trying to save the planet — but the rank and file in her party increasingly are just trying to save their political hides when it comes to gas prices as Republicans apply more and more rhetorical muscle. But what looks like intraparty tension on the surface is part of an intentional strategy in which Pelosi takes the heat on energy policy, while behind the scenes she’s encouraging vulnerable Democrats to express their independence if it helps them politically, according to Democratic aides on and off Capitol Hill. Pelosi’s gambit rests on one big assumption:...

House Panel: Karl Rove Is In Contempt Of Congress Ignores House Judiciary Committee Subpoena WASHINGTON (AP) ― A House panel Wednesday voted to cite former top White House aide Karl Rove for contempt of Congress as its Senate counterpart publicly pursued possible punishments for an array of alleged past and present Bush administration misdeeds. Voting along party lines, the House Judiciary Committee said that Rove had broke the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether Rove encouraged prosecutions against Democrats. The committee decision is only...

By Michelle Malkin  •  July 30, 2008 11:07 AM How afraid is the Democrat leadership of truly maverick conservative GOP Sen. Tom Coburn, who is waging war with Hapless Harry Reid over binge spending and secrecy? They’re so afraid of his effectiveness that they are trying to kneecap him with bogus Ethics Committee complaints about his practice of not charging for delivering babies at the Muskogee Regional Medical Center. Coburn continues to serve as an OB/GYN in Oklahoma.Jill Stanek read my mind: If Sen. Coburn were aborting babies for free instead of delivering them, he’d be getting awards instead of ethics...

Paraphrasing, here's how the exchange went between congressional Democrats and the president over lifting their respective bans on offshore drilling: President Bush: "We need to lift the bans. Americans are being hammered by high gasoline prices." Democrats in Congress: "You go first." President Bush: "OK, I hereby lift the presidential ban on offshore drilling. Your turn." Democrats in Congress: "Forget that. Gasoline prices are too low. Let's raise the gasoline tax 56 percent instead." Why would they propose that? Because next year, the Federal Highway Trust Fund, where gasoline-tax receipts collect, will be at least $3 billion in the red;...

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called President George W. Bush "a total failure" who "has no ideas," in an interview with CNN. Responding to stinging criticism from Bush on the Democratic leadership in both houses of Congress and the slow pace of the legislative agenda, as Congress prepares for its one-month summer recess in August, Pelosi let loose: "You know, God bless him, bless his heart, the president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject." Pelosi, 68,...

Dealing with global warming will be painful, says one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress. To back up his claim he is proposing a recipe many people won't like — a 50-cent gasoline tax, a carbon tax and scaling back tax breaks for some home owners. "I'm trying to have everybody understand that this is going to cost and that it's going to have a measure of pain that you're not going to like," Rep. John Dingell, who is marking his 52nd year in Congress, said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. Dingell will offer a "discussion...

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Tuesday to ban Mexican trucks from U.S. roadways, rekindling a more than decade-old trade dispute with Mexico. By a 74-24 vote, the Senate approved a proposal by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., prohibiting the Transportation Department from spending money on a North American Free Trade Agreement pilot program giving Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways. The proposal is part of a $106 billion transportation and housing spending bill that the Senate hopes to vote on later this week. The House approved a similar provision to Dorgan's in July as part of its version of the transportation...