Mr. Big oil, we're here to talk about the high price of gasoline. How could it have possibly gotten this high?

Let me tell you what we've done here in congress.
We told you that drilling in ANWR is off limits.
We told you that drilling off the coast of Florida and California is off limits.
We told you, Mr. Big oil, that there wouldn't be any new leases for drilling in the Gulf while China and Venezuela and even Cuba pursued these leases and have just signed 100-year leases on the oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
We here in congress have promised, as all three presidential candidates have also promised, to introduce and pass in the next term a cap and trade legislation bill that will increase the price of gasoline according to the EPA by an additional $1.50. Some people say it could be as high as $5 additional per gallon.
We have said that we're shutting down oil fields in Colorado.
We won't let you develop shale oil fields in several Western states.
We passed legislation that would let us sue OPEC with the full understanding that they'll never retaliate.
We have allowed environmental attorneys to sue you big oil fiends for future possible destruction of Alaskan Eskimo village which legal experts believe is the same strategy used to bring down big tobacco.
We're especially proud of our recent action to protect the polar bear and their habitat which just happens to be where the future oil deposits happen to be located.
We told you that you're making too much money and that we're looking at seizing any money that we consider windfall profits.
We have allowed you to drill in some very small areas in Alaska while simultaneously creating very generous environmental laws which have tied up the very production we authorize through years of litigation after you spent the money on buying and setting up equipment.
We told you through our policies that we would not allow you to build a new refinery in over 30 years.
In fact, this great country, under our tutelage, has even reduced the number of operational refineries by half since 1982.
We have even told your potential competitors in the nuclear and hydroelectric industries that we would send the environmental lawyers after them if they even dared think about building a new plant or a new dam.
We've refused to fund or allow the deployment of coal-to-oil technology which has been around since the 1930s.
We've told you that you have to make different blends of gasoline, let states like California dictate what unique gasoline blends you have to make for them.
We will not reduce our federal gasoline tax.
We won't even consider reducing it for the summer months.
So Mr. Big oil, tell me why exactly are gas prices so high?

Labels: congress, economy, EvilMidniteBombr, gasoline, Glenn Beck, oil, profits

Labels: congress, democrats, politics, taxes

The Democrats in the House today failed to override the ban and handcuff our intelligence in the fight against terror. Of course, the republicans will not speak so much about the waterboarding component and will highlight the fact that this bill had more pork than a neighborhood 'Piggly Wiggly', which is good also. The wasteful spending should have been stopped when the R's had control of Congress and for that reason they no longer have it.

The democrats will (and do) claim that this is all about torture, ignoring the fact that waterboarding has been deemed legal by the AG and not torture under any laws in this country. Of course they had the opportunity once to make it illegal and chose not to, but that's why 20/20 is such a good thing (in hindsight that is).

There will be many (and some that even are respectable) that will argue about the effect of our using waterboarding on 'their' prisoners and what 'they' do to our prisoners. These enlightened people will conveniently ignore the fact of what the monsters already do to our people when they get them and will instead hyperventilate on what they imagine might happen to someone in custody of the jihadists.

I'm sure that U.S. and western people captured by Islamic terrorists would be happy to be waterboarded instead of the usual end-game that they use (rusty knife anyone). Congress hasn't done much right in the past few years and will disappoint me again soon I'm sure, but I am happy knowing (for now) that we have the ability to put another terrorist under the drip if needed.

Fox

Labels: congress, terrorism, waterboarding

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republicans accused Democrats on Monday of embracing "character assassination" against Iraq war commander General David Petraeus, hours before his key testimony to the US Congress.

Pent-up political fury over the war spilled over before the appearance by Petraeus and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees later Monday.

The flare-up was sparked by a full-page advertisement in The New York Times placed by anti-war liberal campaign group MoveOn.org, reading "General Petraeus or General Betray US? Cooking the Books for the White House."

White House spokesman Tony Snow said that the advertisement represented a "boorish, childish, unworthy attack.

Top Democratic Senator Joseph Biden said on NBC that he did not agree with the sentiments of the advertisement, but also disagreed with Petraeus's expected conclusion that the current troop surge in Iraq was working and should be extended.

"I really respect him, and I think he's dead, flat wrong," Biden said of Petraeus on NBC television.

"The truth of the matter is that ... this administration's policy and the surge are a failure."[link] {emp. mine-LN}

Labels: congress, Iraq war, surge

Dems Want to Keep GOP From Votes on
Iraq
Email this Story

Jul 31, 9:12 PM (ET)

By DAVID ESPO


WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democratic leaders are intent on
sidetracking bipartisan attempts to change course in Iraq at least until fall,
officials said Tuesday, rather than allow nervous Republicans to vote for
legislation that lacks a troop withdrawal deadline.
Several lawmakers and
aides said the goal was to deny members of the GOP rank and file a chance to
proclaim their independence from President Bush by voting for a limited measure
- after months of backing his policy in an increasingly unpopular war.
Polls
have long shown the war to be unpopular, and a survey released during the day by
the Democracy Corps, which advises Democrats, reported that 61 percent of those
polled want their lawmaker to begin requiring a reduction of troops. (link)

Labels: congress, Iraq, war

Murtha pushes new troop withdrawal plan
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A leading Democratic House Iraq war critic said Wednesday he'll soon push legislation that would order U.S. troop withdrawals to begin in two months and predicted Republicans will swing behind it this time.

In response to Murtha's proposal, House Republican Leader John Boehner said Democrats were ignoring progress in Iraq.

"If they are not listening to reports from our generals today, how does anyone believe they will make an honest and objective decision in September?" Boehner, R-Ohio, said. "Our national security is not a political football, and Republicans aren't going to treat it as such."(link)

Labels: congress, democrats, war

Sen. Feingold proposes censuring Bush
1 hour, 6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Liberal Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Sunday he wants Congress to censure President Bush for his management of the Iraq war and his "assault" against the Constitution.

But Feingold's own party leader in the Senate showed little interest in the idea. An attempt in 2006 by Feingold to censure Bush over the warrantless spying program attracted only three co-sponsors.

Feingold, a prominent war critic, said he soon plans to offer two censure resolutions — measures that would amount to a formal condemnation of the Republican president. (link)

Labels: censure, congress

The House measure passed 223-201 in the Democratic-controlled chamber despite a veto threat from President Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September.

"The security situation in Iraq remains complex and extremely challenging," the administration report concluded. The economic picture is uneven, it added, and the government has not yet enacted vital political reconciliation legislation.

As many as 80 suicide bombers per month cross into the country from Syria, said the interim assessment, which is to be followed by a fuller accounting in September from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in the region.(link)

Labels: congress, Iraq, war

Democrats tout plan to bring troops home

1 hour, 19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The Democrats' plan to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq next year responds to voters' demand for change, New Hampshire Rep. Paul Hodes (news, bio, voting record) said Saturday.

Hodes and other House Democrats on Friday pushed through a rebuke of President Bush and the war in Iraq. Bush promised a veto of the spending bill, which demands combat operations end before September 2008 — and perhaps earlier.

"With our vote this week, we're helping our troops, protecting our veterans, and fighting to end the waste, fraud and abuse," said Hodes, delivering the Democrats' weekly radio address. "After four years of a failed policy, Democrats are insisting on a new direction in Iraq and a real plan that holds the Iraqi people accountable for their own country." (link) {emph. mine-LN}

Labels: congress, Iraq, war

House Schedules Vote on Iraq Resolution Feb 06 3:12 PM US/Eastern
By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic-controlled House will vote next week on a nonbinding measure opposing President Bush's decision to dispatch additional troops to Iraq, officials said Tuesday, hastening a postelection clash between Congress and commander in chief.

The precise nature of the measure remains to be determined, the officials said, although Brendan Daly, a spokeswoman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said, it will be "our opposition to the surge" in troops.

The Pentagon is in the midst of implementing Bush's order to raise troop levels by 21,500, part of a plan to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad.

Bush's revised strategy has sparked strong opposition among Democrats, and officials said that Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., had both pledged to their rank-and-file that next week's vote would merely be the first attempt to pressure the president to shift course in the war. Other legislation will be binding, they said.

Under House rules, Democratic leaders have the authority to advance a measure to the floor for three days of debate and a vote.

That stands in contrast to the Senate, where Republicans have so far blocked an attempt by Democrats to hold a full-fledged debate on a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 U.S. troops.

House Democratic leaders charted their course as Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate committee that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year _ if daunting conditions including subdued violence and political reconciliation are met. (link)

Labels: congress, MSM, politics

Enlarge Photo

AP

Democrats take control of Congress

AP - 1 hour, 30 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - In a day of ceremony and historic change, Rep. Nancy Pelosi became the nation's first female House speaker on Thursday as Democrats eagerly took control of Congress for the final two years of President Bush's term.

Bush to Nominate Khalilzad for U.N. Job

By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer 23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, will be nominated by President Bush to become the U.S. envoy to the United Nations, a senior administration official said Thursday.

Khalilzad, who is Afghan born, has served also as ambassador to Afghanistan. He is likely to be replaced in Baghdad by Ryan Crocker, a veteran American diplomat, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make an announcement for the White House.

Khalilzad would replace John Bolton, whose appointment to the U.N. job expired recently.

Labels: coaching changes, college sports, congress, democrats, Local, U.N.

Mass. lawmakers vote to allow proposed amendment banning gay marriage to proceed

By Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press

Last update: January 02, 2007 – 4:12 PM
BOSTON — Lawmakers in Massachusetts, the only state where gay marriage is legal, voted Tuesday to allow a proposed constitutional amendment to move forward that would effectively ban the practice.

Within two hours, they voted to reconsider, but then voted again to uphold their initial decision.

Sixty-one lawmakers voted in favor of advancing the measure, which would appear on the ballot in 2008 and declare marriage to be only between a man and a woman. The proposal still needs approval of the next legislative session.

After the initial vote, gay marriage proponents called for an hour recess.

They returned and voted 117-75 to reconsider the vote after a scolding from one of the Legislature's most outspoken gay marriage opponents.

Lawmakers later considered the issue a third time, voting 62-134 to advance the amendment to the legislative session.

If it makes it on the ballot and residents approve it, the amendment would leave Massachusetts' existing same-sex marriages intact but ban any new ones. (link)

Labels: congress, marriage, vote

It's a Republican War

by DarkSyde

Sun Dec 24, 2006 at 05:23:28 AM PST

Kevin Drum brings up a good point of discussion here:

Link-- There's no question that conservatives will try to hang our failure in Iraq around liberal peacenik necks, but that's not what's important. What's important is whether they succeed. Public opinion is key, and if they go ahead and do their surge, and it fails, it's going to make the conservative story a lot harder to tell. The public just isn't going to buy it.

One thing BushCo did and did well was in branding this war an exclusively Republican War and cutting Democrats out of what they thought was going to be the credit for it. So, my guess would be the public is already not going to buy any whining excuses that the media/hippies/bloggers/tree huggers lost the glorious GOP War. And any stragglers still shopping at Right-wingmart aren't going to let a little thing like reality disrupt their purchase.

Nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt to remind people every chance we get -- especially as revelations of fraud or profiteering come to light, more Americans die, and even politicians with a purple stain on their finger run away screaming from Bush and his war over the next year -- that this is a Republican War started by a Republican President managed by a Republican Cabinet enabled by a Rubber-stamp Republican Congress and cheered on by Republican media operatives. In short: Republicans Lost The War. (link)

Party	Yes	No
Democratic	Max Baucus, Evan Bayh, Joseph Biden, John Breaux, Maria Cantwell, Jean Carnahan, Thomas Carper, Max Cleland, Hillary Clinton, Tom Daschle, Christopher Dodd, Byron Dorgan, John Edwards, Dianne Feinstein, Tom Harkin, Fritz Hollings, Tim Johnson, John Kerry, Herb Kohl, Mary Landrieu, Joseph Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln, Zell Miller, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Harry Reid, Jay Rockefeller, Chuck Schumer, Bob Torricelli

(link)

Party	Yes	No	Not Voting
Democratic	Gary Ackerman, Robert Andrews, James Barcia, Kenneth Bentsen, Shelley Berkley, Howard Berman, Marion Berry, Sanford Bishop, Rod Blagojevich, Bob Borski, Leonard Boswell, Rick Boucher, Allen Boyd, Brad Carson, Bob Clement, Bud Cramer, Joseph Crowley, Jim Davis, Peter Deutsch, Norman Dicks, Calvin Dooley, Chet Edwards, Eliot Engel, Bob Etheridge, Harold Ford, Martin Frost, Richard Gephardt, Bart Gordon, Gene Green, Ralph Hall, Jane Harman, Baron Hill, Joe Hoeffel, Tim Holden, Steny Hoyer, Steve Israel, William Jefferson, Chris John, Paul Kanjorski, Patrick Kennedy, Ron Kind, Nicholas Lampson, Tom Lantos, Nita Lowey, Ken Lucas, Bill Luther, Stephen Lynch, Carolyn Maloney, Edward Markey, Frank Mascara, Jim Matheson, Carolyn McCarthy, Mike McIntyre, Michael McNulty, Martin Meehan, Dennis Moore, John Murtha, Bill Pascrell, Collin Peterson, David Phelps, Earl Pomeroy, Tim Roemer, Mike Ross, Steven Rothman, Max Sandlin, Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, Ronnie Shows, Ike Skelton, Adam Smith, John Spratt, Charles Stenholm, John Tanner, Ellen Tauscher, Gene Taylor, Karen Thurman, Jim Turner, Henry Waxman, Anthony Weiner, Robert Wexler, Al Wynn

(link)

Labels: congress, democrats, war

Politics

This is the most recent version of this article. View article history.

Bush Seeks to Halt Congress Pet Projects

37 mins ago

Bush Seeks to Halt Congress Pet Projects

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By DEB RIECHMANN, The Associated Press
Dec 16, 2006 8:32 AM (37 mins ago)
Current rank: # 171 of 17,556 articles

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday that his administration will outline a series of changes that would clamp down on the common Capitol Hill practice of slipping pet projects into spending bills.

These projects, called earmarks, are spending provisions that often are put into bills at the last minute, so they never get debated or discussed, Bush said in his weekly radio address.

"It is not surprising that this often leads to unnecessary federal spending, such as a swimming pool or a teapot museum tucked into a big spending bill," he said.

The president said his administration's proposal would make earmarks more transparent, make lawmakers more accountable for the earmarks they propose, and help reduce the overall number of earmarks. (link)

Labels: congress, pork, U.S. President