GOP Lawmakers Put Together Energy Bill

[UpInArms]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6883948.htm

WASHINGTON - Congressional Republicans are cobbling together an energy blueprint substantially more favorable to industry than a Senate-passed bill hailed by Democrats as a victory this summer.

<snip>

Sen. Pete Domenici, chairman of the House-Senate negotiations, dismisses the Democrats' complaints. The GOP staff has "worked closely" in "open and bipartisan negotiations," said Domenici, R- N.M.

But he also said he wants to avoid the type of gridlock that prevented passage of a bill last year.

A senior Democrat involved in the talks said he is dismayed at the way Republican leaders are putting together the bill after the House and Senate approved different versions this year.

...more...

[goobergunch]

1. Yeah, the GOP has worked closely with themselves

Note that they haven't yet had a formal conference meeting.

I'm still at filibuster readiness level 2 on this.

[salin]

2. One of the items I read in the past two days

said that the energy industry lobbyists are writing the parts of the bill. That would explain the closed doors (they repubs have closed the democrats assigned to the conference committee out of the deliberations). Also explains the piecemeal approach.

Also explains how a very controversial item to allow an 'inventory' to be taken of oil sources - including off shore - that pries open the door to off-shore drilling - an item that wasn't in either the house or senate version - suddenly showed up in the conference bill.

Dick Cheney couldn't have done it better.

[baby_bear]

3. Daschle looks pretty bad on this one

The August 9 edition of the National Journal has an article ("The Last Laugh in the Senate") explaining how, even though Daschle got a Democratic-backed energy bill passed at the last minute before the August recess, that the Repugs went along with it because they knew they could decimate it in conference, which is exactly what is happening.

Here is a quote (no link, sorry, I have the hard copy in front of me though):
<snip>
...it seems the Republicans are seizing on a new strategy to overcome their narrow majority in the Senate, where the 60-vote threshold for breaking filibusters gives Democrats considerable sway. Republicans figure they can roll over the Democrats and rewrite bills in conference committee, where only a simple majority of each chamber's conferees are needed to sign off on compromises. "It's tri-cameralism," said Ross K. Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University. "Conferences, for Republicans, are the place where all the political toxins are extracted from the legislation."
</snip>

Or, in this case, it's where the toxins are inserted.

There is also a quote by Frist:
"I can promise you it's going to be a Domenici-Tauzin-Bush bill."
:grr:

s_m