Raising the Stakes in the Energy Debate
(AP / CBS)
The bill, however, passed by a razor-thin margin with a vote of 219 to 212 -- with 44 Democrats defecting (and eight Republicans voting for it). Now, as the bill moves to the Senate, both sides of the energy debate are upping the ante politically and turning the legislation into fodder for future elections.
The Republican party is taking aim at junior Democrats from moderate districts who voted for the legislation, betting they will pay the price for their votes. The liberal Netroots, meanwhile, are considering a "full-court press" against senators who may not vote in favor of a more liberal version of the bill.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is planning to launch television and radio ads, as well as robo-calls, against junior Democrats who could be vulnerable in the 2010 elections because of their support for the climate change legislation, the Politico reports. One congressman who could be targeted, for instance, is Rep. Harry Teague (D-N.M.), the first Democrat elected to represent the conservative 2nd District -- which depends on oil and gas production -- in more than 25 years.
"There's a reason why over 40 Democrats in swing districts voted against this," NRCC spokesman Ken Spain told Politico. "They realized that voting for [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi's bill wasn't worth the price of millions of dollars in TV ads that would be required to put up what will ultimately be a futile defense of this vote. The question is: What were the others thinking?"
Republicans who voted against the bill were clearly thinking of their congressional victory in 1994 as they chanted on the House floor last week, "Btu! Btu!" The chant alluded to a 1993 energy bill the Clinton administration pushed through the House. The bill ultimately failed, but some say it boosted the Republicans' standing that year.
By contrast, some liberal organizations are saying Democrats will lose ground if they do not strengthen the energy bill.
MoveOn.org, a powerful liberal grassroots advocacy group, is asking its members whether it should use its influence to "turn up the heat on senators who might be tempted to side with Big Oil and Coal."
The organization sent an e-mail to its members Monday saying that the energy legislation will not accomplish Mr. Obama's goals of creating a clean energy economy or new jobs because "Big Oil and Coal lobbyists, working in cahoots with some conservative Blue Dog Democrats, weakened the bill terribly." MoveOn wants members to vote on whether the group should use its resources to "fight to... fix the energy bill" or not. If two-thirds of the voters approve, the group will press the issue in the Senate.
"If we decide to proceed with this campaign together, we'll boost progressive champions like those who fought in the House, and expose conservatives who do the bidding of the oil and coal industry," the e-mail says.
MoveOn, which boasts 5 million members, has already used its clout to target Democrats the group considers too weak on health care reform, such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
The environmental group Greenpeace, which opposes the energy legislation for the concessions it gives to polluting industries, has also asked its supporters to appeal to Congress for legislation to end global warming.
The fight reveals what's at stake as Mr. Obama pushes an aggressive agenda that will take significant compromising to win bipartisan support -- or even make it through a diverse Democratic majority.
"This is when it gets harder," Mr. Obama said at a fundraiser last night about his agenda. "This is when the criticism gets louder... this is exactly the moment we need to fight the hardest."
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 46 CommentsWell that?s exactly what happened this past Friday when Congress voted on and passed the infamous HR 2454 Cap and Trade/Carbon Emissions Bill. Final vote: 219 Yea, 212 Nay. A little after 3 am on that very same day a 300 page amendment was added to the original 900+ pages. This is the longest suicide note in history and will further hasten our downward economic spiral. The Senate looks to debate it this Fall where it will likely get nowhere. Friday?s vote may have been a gift to the POTUS for the upcoming UN meeting knowing there?s little chance of it getting thru the Senate. Before Friday?s vote I made my feelings known to our Democratic Congressman. I see he voted No but I?ve no idea what his real motivation was. Some that voted Yes received calls 20:1 urging a No vote and they still voted Yes.
This is about more than just higher electricity rates. It?s a massive redistribution of wealth, further limits our freedoms all under the guise of reducing an essential trace greenhouse gas, and does next to nil for energy independence. This Manmade Global Warming/Climate Change House Of Cards is tumbling down. Every week more and more new contrary evidence is seeing the light of day. The Mainstream Media won?t report it, but this vital information is getting out to those that want honest debate on this important issue.
Looking past the Senate this Fall we have the December Copenhagen UN meeting on a new Global Warming Treaty. Remember the Kyoto Treaty? Well you ain?t seen nothing yet. I shudder to think what the U.S. delegation would love to commit us to for years or decades forward. Lastly there?s the EPA waiting in the wings to regulate all things CO2. Just this past week a leaked string of internal EPA e-mails detailed suppression of evidence that undermines the CO2 argument.
Remember Friday?s vote, because if this horror show is implemented on the American public it will blow up in our face as it has in every country this has been tried. At what cost in dollars and individual freedoms? Mark your calendar in RED, because that is the path we are heading toward. Contact your Senators and ask them if they?re prepared to defend a Yes vote for this misguided Bill. Let them know a NO Vote will ensure your support next election cycle.
So what?s the real scoop? Ignore the proselytizers and find out from those who ?shaped? the Bill ?.
http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2009/07/dear-mr-president-thanks-again-for-cap.html
Are prepared to lose millions of jobs, pay more for electricity, food, clothing, transportation, housing? Do you actually think that companies are going to stick around and pay more in taxes, when other countries would be happy to have them? The effect of this idiotic bill is companies moving over seas taking millions of jobs with them, in turn raising the cost of goods and the the CO2 levels by having to transport the goods back to the US. Many farmers will go out of business meaning more imported food and less controls and again we come back to added CO2 in transporting the food back to the US. Most of the produce I by was grown less than 2 hours from my home, if obama gets his way it will be thousands of miles from my home.
Global warming is a natural cycle the earth goes through and has been for millions of years.
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Yes I agree it is a natural cycle but if you look at the scientific data, the warming has sped up MUCH faster than the "normal" cycle. In other words, the warming that is going on right now shouldn't happen for thousands of years in the future instead of causing havoc within 100 years on Earth now.
With Obama in power the chickens will come home to roost. He learned a lot of hate for this country in Rev Wrights church.
He will become dictator and supreme ruler within the next two years. America will never have to worry about real elections again. He will run them like his friends in Iran.
http://www.newsy.com/videos/climate_bill_heats_up_congress
In fact it may save the Nation. Not because it was something the Nation needed, but because Middle America has awoken to this liberal nonsense. The November 2010 will tear down the Obama legacy of Worst President Ever, and null all the Democrat irresponsibility.
The United States of Middle America can't afford it, doesn't want it, and will "revolt and overthrow it" if this continues.
I remind you of something in Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, Monday, March 4, 1861:
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.
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Though some might disagree, it's generally accepted that the longer a politician stays in office, the less they concern themselves with the desires or wishes of their constituents and the more intrenched they become in the political machinery that runs on our tax dollars. It's no secret that a politician will say virtually anything, around election time, to stay in office and continue feeding from the government trough. However, as it has been noted too many times to count, as soon as they're back in power, all the promises they made seem to vanish into thin air or be excused away by bureaucratic gibberish that's about as transparent as wax paper.
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See all 46 Comments