All politics, all the time, as No Runny Eggs points out.
A headline in Rollcall confirms what has been suspected for the past few weeks:
Democrats Lack Votes to Extend Drilling Ban
House Democrats appeared ready Wednesday to allow offshore oil drilling nationwide after leaders realized they do not have the votes to extend a drilling moratorium.
While that is great news and is a direct result of the focus that the House Republicans have had on energy during the recess, all the news is not good.
The Democrats, seeing that they are in a political corner, are attempting to yet again bamboozle folks into thinking that they care more about the average citizen than their own pork laden positions:
Under legislation outlined Wednesday afternoon but still under discussion among Democrats, drilling would be allowed 50 to 100 miles offshore nearly everywhere provided that states agree to it. Drilling would be allowed 100 miles or more offshore on both coasts.
States would not receive revenue-sharing from the drilling, which Republicans argue is a necessary component to give coastal states incentives to allow the drilling.
The plan being discussed is similar to the one I took to task here. Basically it keeps drilling outside of 50 miles, keeps a moratorium in place for the Eastern Gulf and still allows the individual states to veto drilling off of their coasts, even outside of the 50 mile limit. While I’m sure the bill will have “Energy Independence” embedded somewhere in the title, the bill as currently laid out would have as much to do with energy independence as I will have on the amount of snow that will fall this winter.
Guess Nancy and her obstructionists really didn’t have a change of heart. Could it be that the American people are starting to get a hint? Gallup says the battle for Congress is suddenly looking competitive.
