This summer, on the floor of the House of Representatives, the lights went out and the microphones were turned off - but not to preserve energy.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the rest of the Democratic Congress made a clear statement in August when they refused to remain in session to deal with the energy crisis. That message was one of continued ignorance of any tangible solutions, and represented a failure to attempt to bring down the price of gasoline and energy for hard working Americans.
On Tuesday, the Democratic Leadership illuminated for Americans what it means to have a one-track mind by bringing to the floor of the House of Representatives HR 6899, the misnamed "Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act." Created in the dead of night without any input from Republicans, the Democrats' energy bill is a sham that does nothing about our nation's energy crisis. Far from having an open debate and discussion on this critical issue, the Democrats filed this 290-page bill the night before, and then brought it up as the first order of business on the House floor Tuesday under a closed rule.
Some lowlights of the bill include:
- No drilling for oil within 50 miles of states' shores, effectively eliminating 88 percent of our offshore oil reserves.
- No revenue sharing for states that do decide to opt-in for drilling over 50 miles off their shores - providing little incentive for them to permit oil drilling.
- No new refineries - the plan contains no provisions to cut red tape and increase American refining capacity.
- No expansion of emission-free nuclear power, and no development of advanced clean coal and coal-to-liquid technologies and resources.
- No lawsuit reform, to prevent frivolous lawsuits from radical interest groups intent on stopping the environmentally sound exploration of American energy solely for political purposes.
There is no doubt that something needs to be done now about our energy crisis. It is almost criminal of Congress to put hard working citizens in a position where they have to decide between paying for food and paying their energy bill. The energy solution we need is one like my Republican colleagues proposed in HR 6566, the "American Energy Act." Often referred to as the "all-of-the-above" bill, HR 6566 would provide three main solutions to solving our country's energy crisis.
The "American Energy Act" would: increase American-made energy, improve energy conservation and promote alternative energy technologies. In other words, it would release us from dependence on expensive foreign oil, and would no longer keep our rich energy resources under lock-and-key.
"The American Energy Act" is the most efficient way for us to soon see relief at the pump, return to a strong economy, and show the world that the United States can depend on its own resources. This is the bill that Congress should have voted on, not the Democratic alternative, which provides Americans with the incorrect "none of the above" options.
U.S. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) represents Wisconsin's Fifth District.
15 Comments
Of course with Rep. Sensenbrenner's millions of personal investments in the oil industry, I can understand his great interest in moving US drilling to the forefront. And I agree with more drilling, but with a public rather than private motive.
There is another way, and that's to establish a taxpayer-owned drilling company to compete with OPEC. We've tried privatization and it doesn't work. Look at the recent public bailouts of the credit industry. And if the taxpayers are going to offer exploration credits, are we not making nit a public investment already?
I explain the public system here: http://tinyurl.com/yr2vfd
So if Rep Sensenbrenner really wants to put the public first, here is his chance.
I fail to see a significant difference between my investing a new oil company to go drilling, and my being forced to invest in OIL-USA via my taxes. We all appreciate how wonderfully efficient the government runs its business. If you want another bloated entity filled with government workers, just implement this idea.
Comparing the credit and energy crises is apples to oranges. If Americans wish to be a part of the oil industry, they are free to add stocks/bonds/mutual funds that include energy companies to their own portfolios. We should not force every citizen to invest in another bureaucratic organizational arm of the ever-growing Federal government. Incidentally, if we were smart with our money, we'd all be investing in energy companies that were working to grow in response to our growing energy demands... especially since the current market has undervalued many of these companies.
Oh, you guys are talking about the "free market." How are you liking it so far?
The oil market is not a free market, it is an OPEC conspiracy with US companies in on the deal. And our politicians let it happen because they either (a) are taking campaign cash from the oil companies or (b) have heavy stock investments in them, as does Sensenbrenner.
In either case it is a severe conflict of interest.
If you take away the payola, the politicians will do the right thing. And that's to have the taxpayers compete with the folks who want in our pockets. If you lay it out for a national vote by the people, OIL-USA will win.
But don't you worry. That would remove power from the politicians and they'd never allow that.
I agree with Jack Lohman. In fact, we should try to find some of those old soviet economic commissars to help us set up a government run energy business. In addition, we can recruit some of the top managers from the US postal service, social security administration, and state DMV departments to help efficiently run big government energy.
As to Lohman's comment about politicians and corruption, I agree. Everyone knows when government controls everything there is no government corruption.
Please prove me wrong but: credit, energy in general and specifically oil have not been free markets for decades.
The lending/housing issue is a direct result of government regulation in the late 90's. Government; not lenders; caused the lending/housing bubble. The Gov's social experiment was to put everyone in a house without considering the ability to repay. Lenders where 'literally' threatened with fines and penalties for discrimination if they refused to give loans under the new, lower standards.
Public utilities have been regulated by government forever. Government regulations and refusal to grant permits is the direct reason we have so few new power plants, especially nuclear.
And oil drilling/refining has been under the government thumb for generations. The few remaining BIG oil companies are a direct result of our goverment's desire to regulate everything. Government created so many reg's and almost no permits for so long; the small companies could no longer compete. We know instinctively that there is great revenue to be had for jobs, communities and business if we allowed ourselves to tap our own oil. Look at Nebraska. They have actively sought and supported drilling for years now. There are millioniares being made each week. Towns are sprouting up and the big concern is that they control growth.
Here is one of the biggest farses. Everyone had been led to focus on offshore drilling, the most expensive type of drilling and the longest to bring to market. We need to take our eyes off this 'red herring' to see that we can build refineries now. This brings more oil to market and stabilizes prices almost immediately. Second we can start punching holes in the states that are begging to get permits to drill - by next year.
Sorry Jack, but the idea of big Gov drilling for oil: they are the reason we're in this mess now. They are directly responsible for the elimination of small competing oil companies working on shore in the US. No two ways about it. Personally, I think Gov points at BIG oil as loud as possible so we forget they are the root of this issue. Same for the lending/housing bubble.
>>> "... credit, energy in general and specifically oil have not been free markets for decades."
There are many that would disagree with you. See "Wall Street Crisis Is Culmination of 28 Years of Deregulation" at http://tinyurl.com/28years
And Bill, if I have to have someone control my health care, I'd prefer it to be physicians... which it is under my Medicare plan... and the last person I'd want in charge is someone whose bonuses and stock options are dependent on the amount of patient care he can deny or avoid.
But neither of you have answered the question: How are you liking it so far? $1 trillion taxpayer dollars now going to offset the $1 trillion of skimming by the financial industry and its CEOs. You know, the guys you'd like running your health care.
There's got to be something positive to say about that.
I read the article, I could be reading it incorrectly, but it seems to bare out what I've written above albeit with more detail.
Government has never done business well. I believe it is because there is no competition; we have only one government. No one is waiting for them to stumble so a better, smarter entity can take some market share. Well run companies in a competive market must always stay sharp and listen to the customer. Our government acts as though the customer knows nothing.
I can't speak to the CEO skimming, but the businesses that are relatively government free with competition I'm liking more and more. I just picked up a cell phone for free and the minutes cost next to nothing. My new carpet layer does better work, better materials for just slightly less. Now that the state is finally allowing competition for cable service I'm hearing good things about ATT's Uverse. I'm looking at a new computer soon and it looks like I'll get 4 time the computer for roughly 1/3 the price. Yep, get the government out, get competition in, we're all doing better.
All that said, government generally makes a good referee but not much more.
I generally agree with you, Bob, but an unfettered free market in the banking and credit industries has driven this country into near (if not complete) bankruptcy. And not to take this discussion too far from Sensenbrenner, he's been a major part of the problem.
Clearly, we'd be better off if FEMA subcontracted to local entities like churches and the Salvation Army. Get FEMA and the government out of the way. But it has done a decent job of restoring the US Postal Service to a competitive force that has kept UPS and FedEx in line, and they are both doing very well with it.
Medicare is the most successful public-private venture yet, though it's not perfect (mostly because of the politicians who are on the take interfering with the public good).
But the one fact remains: If we got private funding out of the political system, these jokers would vote on behalf of good laws that benefit the state and nation.
Agreed. We made a big mistake when we put the Gov in charge of their own salaries, healthcare and governing rules. So, how do we get the pigs to give up some of their slop?
Turnover.
Congressman Sensenbrenner is correct- Nancy Pelosi's and Harry Reid's energy bill is a sham. More US energy production will help our balance of trade, help our state and federal treasuries, create jobs, and most significantly- provide relief to energy consumers. But the democrats are beholden to the anti-drilling, global warming crowd, ordinary citizens be damned.
Jack- Thanks, I'm doing fine -my 401K was up significantly last week.
As to the $1 trillion, as far as I'm concerned they could have let Freddie and Fannie go bankrupt. Both are heavily tied to the democrats in Washington- Jamie Gorelich, deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration (I wonder how she got her job at Fannie), left Fannie after its accounting scandal with $75 million. Harold Raines, former CEO of Fannie Mae and big time donor to dems on the committee that oversees Fannie, left after the scandal with $100 million. Also, the democrats blocked proposals to clamp down of Freddie and Fannie- so big fat government is not going to be your socialist dream. More government control of our economy means more fertile fields for government corruption.
Also, your precious medicare program is going bust, as will social security without a plan to reduce benefits or squeeze the taxpayers for more tax money. As to physicians answering to insurance companies, they will just end up answering to the government which will provide the level of customer service to we consumers at the level provided by the WI DMV, social security admin., IRS, WI DNR, FEMA, public schools, and the post office.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
I agree that the Dem's energy bill is a sham, Bill, sort of like the R's credit crisis fix is a sham. Where we don't seem to agree is that both are the result of a corrupt political system. Get the bribes out of politics and these jerks will vote for their people rather than their pocketbook.
As to Medicare, yes, as long as the Republicans are running it, and giving away $780 billion to the pharmaceutical industry, it stands a good chance of going broke. But the answer is NOT forcing consumers to go broke under the privatized system. I'm almost to the point of supporting Obama because the McCain healthcare plan is just more of the same.
After reading the last two entries, I think I see a deeper problem. Jack is right, turnover or more specifically turnover and installation of "public servants" is needed. The problem is where do we find people willing to serve the public rather than themselves?
Jack's other point is correct, get the special money out completely and we stand a better chance.
But one problem remains, we're all locked in the "R's" and "D's". That leads to getting applicants for the government to the extremes of each party. People with closed minds and large egos.
So, turnover. Eliminate special money. And divest our bipolar view of all things in the public domain. Where do I sign up? ;>)
Run for office, Bob, or convince others to. We need change in leadership. Doesn't matter whether you are Republican or Democrat, if we get the money out of the system you'll do the right thing.
Unfortunately, until we change the voting system the R's and D's are locked in. See http://tinyurl.com/5aukma
You can also get my monthly newsletter on my blog at http://moneyedpoliticians.net It covers health care and campaign reform. Just get active.