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| Pelousi indicates "openness" to offshore drilling vote | |
| 2008-08-12 | |
| House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday night dropped her staunch opposition to a vote on offshore oil drilling in the House. Republicans, reacting to high gas prices, have demanded a vote on additional oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf, where drilling is currently blocked by a moratorium. Until now, Pelosi (D-Calif.) has resisted the idea as a "hoax." But in an interview on CNN's Larry King Live, she indicated that she was open to a vote. "They have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas," Pelosi said. "We can do that. We can have a vote on that." She indicated such a vote would have to be part of a larger package that included other policies, like releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which she said could bring down prices in a matter of days. The only reason they would come down is because people would be worried less about the Donks staunch refusal to do the right thing. Now what happens a couple of months later when the government has to start refilling that reserve? Prices spike again due to increased "demand". No net gain, unless you count the political sort.
So it's at Pelosi's discretion? I wonder whatever happened to government "of/by/for the people". They're behaviro is closer to that of a ruling class than that of public servants. She even indicated that she might support a package that includes drilling. She said her decision on whether to support such legislation would depend on how the policies are packaged. "It's not excluded, let's put it that way," Pelosi said. Uh, yeah. I hear you. Sounds a lot like Obama's grudging statements about "limited" drilling. In a year in which Republicans expected to take a beating at the polls, their support for drilling in protected areas has been a sudden bright spot. They have relentlessly demanded a vote on drilling as Democrats rearranged House business to avoid such a vote. But the pressure has only grown. Republicans demanded a drilling vote before the House went home for the summer recess, and when that didn't happen, some stayed behind in the chamber to protest. A bipartisan group in the Senate came up with a plan that would include drilling, and Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has said he's "willing to consider" it. And Democrats realize that it will be difficult to end their legislative year in September without a vote because the offshore drilling moratorium must be renewed every year. Pelosi had previously said she would allow a vote on drilling and then backed off. On July 30, the last day Congress was in before the August recess, she was interviewed by the Capitol Hill press corps. She was asked if she could envision a vote on drilling in new areas this year, and she answered, "Of course." But her aides later released a statement saying she was not announcing a change in her stance on a drilling vote. | |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #6 In the ugly event that BHO is elected In the IT world BHO means a Browser Helper Object. These are sometimes useful, but are usually malware..... |
| Posted by: DLR 2008-08-12 16:13 |
| #5 Eww. Did you have to mention Pelousi and blows in the same thread? |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-08-12 13:12 |
| #4 Looks to me like she is thinking that she can wrap enough garbage up in a huge bill that Republicans can't swallow, they they will reject the bill. Trying to turn Republican lemonade into rotten lemons? Still, she hasn't shown any ability to finesse anything to that. We can hope that she blows this, too. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-08-12 11:12 |
| #3 Good point, Anonymoose. Pelosi has been the least effective SOH in my lifetime, worse even than Foley. So bad that there are plenty of Dems who would like to see her go. I'm guessing that if McCain gets in, Pelosi is gone for sure. In the ugly event that BHO is elected, she has a small chance of staying in place, but only just. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2008-08-12 10:18 |
| #2 There's a good chance that Pelosi won't be elected speaker by the next House of Representatives. If only 19 Democrats make a deal with the Republicans to select somebody else, they will win. This is possible, because Pelosi has deeply offended a lot of her fellow Democrats. So if the Republicans agree to a much more moderate Democrat, with only 8% of the Democrats joining them, they will win. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-08-12 09:54 |
| #1 Say "Thanks Vladimir". |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-08-12 02:11 |