Democrats cave to drilling

I saw it first at Baldilocks;

One wonders whether the selection of McCain’s Alaskan pro-drilling running mate and the GOP’s humongous post VP selection, post-convention bounce had any thing to do with this decision.

And then at Ace;

Pelosi called the Democrats’ blockage of this bill vital — if we don’t stop this, she said, we may as well just go home.

It was always bad politics (nevermind awful policy) to oppose this. And yet they thought they could nevertheless afford defying the public on such a key issue.

Yeah, just imagine, the Democrats left town six weeks ago and and came back to a “suddenly” different debate about energy. No, not really…gas prices were about 15% higher than they are now. So Democrats just packed up and left secure that they had fooled Americans into believing that rising gas prices were the President’s fault. Just six weeks ago, Reid refused to bring an energy bill to the floor of the Senate (The Hill link);

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Monday that he would not allow a vote on an amendment giving states new authority to seek oil off their coasts when he brings a Democratic energy bill to the floor later this month.

In a sign of escalating tensions, one senior GOP senator called Reid a “chicken” for deciding not to allow amendments on energy production, prompting a Reid spokesman to say that “name calling won’t lower the price of oil and gasoline.”

Three days later, the International Herald Tribune wrote this;

“The president of the United States, with gas at $4 a gallon because of his failed energy policies, is now trying to say that is because I couldn’t drill offshore,” Pelosi said in an interview. “That is not the cause, and I am not going to let him get away with it.”

Her voice carries considerable weight since, as speaker, Pelosi is in a position to prevent a vote on expanded drilling from reaching the floor

And she and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, appear intent on holding the line against calls to approve drilling in areas now off limits. They mount the counterargument that the oil and gas industry is not aggressively exploring large expanses it has already leased on land and offshore. They also have urged Bush to pour some fuel from national reserves into the commercial supply chain in an effort to lower prices.

It seems according to today’s AP reports that Reid and Pelosi have come 180 degrees around;

Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he is ready to take up two proposals that would allow limited oil and gas drilling 50 miles off Florida’s Gulf coast and in the Atlantic off four southeastern states as well as a broader Republican drilling bill.

“We are offering Republicans multiple opportunities to vote for increased drilling,” declared Reid, addressing what has become the biggest energy issue in Congress as well as in the presidential campaign.

So what could’ve changed in just six short weeks? Well, according to The Hill today;

A leadership aide said last week that Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) adoption of a pro-drilling position was a strategic one designed to bring the party in line with its presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), and give vulnerable caucus members political cover heading into the November elections.

In other words “To Hell with the citizens of this country suffering through the summer with high gas prices…Democrats need votes now.” While Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were jetting around the country, Americans were paying for their arrogance at the pump. Time to make them pay at the polls in November.

Crossposted at Eagles Up! Talon

Category: Economy, Liberals suck, Politics