ENERGY A Stunt-Driven Agenda On Friday, the House was scheduled to close for its regular August recess. House conservatives, however, refused to leave the floor, demanding a vote on offshore drilling. With the C-SPAN cameras and the House floor lights turned off, a handful of conservatives stuck around for over five hours "
to attack Democrats for leaving town without doing something to lower gas prices." "Eighteen times over the past 90 days, the minority tried, unsuccessfully,
to force the House to adjourn. Now the House has finally adjourned -- for a five-week recess, no less -- and Republicans are demanding that the chamber be called back into session," the Washington Post's Dana Milbank observed. Believing "they have
struck political gold with American voters," conservatives are lauding their stagecraft in
the most grandiose terms. "Today is the 2008 version of the Boston Tea Party,"
exclaimed Rep John Shadegg (R-AZ). "[L]ike the founders of this country we're going directly to the American people,"
boasted Rep. Tim Price (R-GA). "This could be America's greatest hour,"
crowed Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL). Conservatives extended the theatrics yesterday and have declared they will continue their floor protests for "
as long as it takes." House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) called their tactics "stunts" that amount to little more than "transparent political effort
to manufacture headlines." Even President Bush isn't falling for it. Although the House conservatives have asked him to call an emergency session of Congress,
Bush refused.
CONSERVATIVE OBSTRUCTION ON ENERGY: House conservatives are not looking for any fix to gas prices: They are intent on drilling and
drilling only -- and simultaneously filling Big Oil's coffers. These same conservatives have voted to
block legislation that would have released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,
block legislation banning price gouging, and
block legislation requiring oil companies to first drill on the land already leaded to them. Conservative leaders have
blocked or voted "no" on eight different energy bills aimed at addressing rising prices, including bills that raised vehicle fuel efficiency, provided tax incentives for renewable energy, invested in energy efficiency, required a 15 percent renewable electricity standard, and expanded commuter rail and bus services while reducing transit fares. Opening new offshore sites to drilling is a
boon only to Big Oil companies, and they have responded to conservatives' efforts by
opening their wallets. Just in the last year, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO),
one of the leaders of the floor standoff, has received more than
nearly $100,000 from the oil and gas industries, with $20,000 from Chevron alone.
LAZIEST CONGRESS WANTS TO WORK?: In a press conference yesterday, Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA) demanded that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "allow us to come back from our vacation, and work here." Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) said Friday, "This band of brothers here is staying late to make a point to the American people: We want to work." His colleagues then chanted: "
Work, work, work." Yet House conservatives have hardly been known for their work ethic. In 2007, when Pelosi shook up the "
Do-Nothing Congress" of 2005 and 2006 by implementing a five-day work week,
conservatives were furious. "Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says," Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) complained. He defended the three-day week used under the conservative majority, declaring they could
keep in touch with Washington "with BlackBerrys" and cell phones. In fact, the 109th Congress -- the last under conservative leadership -- was in session for
a grand total of 103 days in 2006, and "
failed to enact a host of once top-priority legislation" on issues such as Social Security, immigration, and ethics reform. As Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) said of the 109th's pathetic work schedule, ""[I]t's really bad news for America because
we're simply not doing our jobs. They're paying us full salaries, but we're not working full time."
A STUNT, NOT A SOLUTION: Not only are conservatives engaging in a meaningless political stunt, but their policy prescriptive -- offshore drilling -- is also nothing but a gimmick. Opening more offshore areas to drilling "
would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030," according to the Energy Information Administration. Earlier this summer, the government's "top energy forecaster" said of offshore drilling: "
It doesn't affect prices that much." Meanwhile, Republicans are
mocking common-sense
solutions like inflating your tires and tuning your engine, which "
could save more barrels of oil in one year than new offshore drilling could produce in four." In the long term, Americans need an energy
solution that prioritizes
independence from fossil fuels altogether to help with the rising costs of gas -- not political stunts and empty gimmicks.
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