A new article by David Freddoso of National Review Online discusses a probable upcoming congressional battle between Democrats who oppose all efforts to increase America's oil production and Republicans who want to free our oil supplies.
On September 30 — two months from today — the ban on fossil-fuel drilling off America’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and in the oil-shale fields of the West will expire. Democrats, who control both houses of Congress, must pass an appropriations bill extending the bans.
The onus, in other words, is on them. Democrats will likely propose a continuing resolution to extend funding for the government through the end of the calendar year without making major changes. This bill will certainly include a continuation of the drilling ban — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), a zealous opponent of offshore drilling since the 1980s, has resisted all attempts to change it.
Democrats are sufficiently committed to maintaining the ban that they could even be willing to force a government shutdown in September, or dare the Republicans to force one. But if Republicans are equally committed to increasing the domestic-energy supply, and President Bush is willing to use his veto pen, they have a golden opportunity.
This is the message of Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), who is urging the president and his congressional colleagues to take a risk and fight for drilling here at home. “If President Bush wants a domestic legacy, it has to be on this issue,” DeMint told National Review Online Tuesday. “This is the final few seconds of the game as far as his administration goes, and we’re down seven points. We can’t just keep running up the middle. It’s time to throw the Hail Mary.”
This issue is easily the biggest winner for Republicans this fall, if only they have the political guts to force a confrontation with the Dems. Americans now overwhelmingly see the light and favor drilling pretty much everywhere.
With gasoline prices hovering well above $4.00 in some parts of the U.S., a June poll from Zogby International found 74 percent of respondents in favor of drilling for more oil and gas in American waters. The argument is bolstered by the fact that drilling costs the U.S. government nothing — Uncle Sam would actually make billions of dollars from new leases. The environmental hazards of offshore drilling are negligible, accounting for one percent of the oil spilled in American waters, according to the National Academy for the Sciences.
Republican campaigners can legitimately argue this fall that Democrats, under the ideological control of an intransigent environmental lobby, are unwilling to address the issue of high gasoline prices in a meaningful way.
Democrats... are also pursuing environmental policies (such as carbon taxes and caps) that are designed to increase the price of gasoline beyond its current level, in order to force conservation by consumers, and so to decrease carbon emissions. Their leaders — most recently Rep. James Oberstar (D., Minn.), the powerful chairman of the House Transportation Committee — are also discussing an increase in the gasoline tax, a politically tone-deaf idea considering today’s high fuel prices.
Understandably, then, Republican officeholders and candidates are pushing the issue of energy as hard as possible. The question is whether the president and the GOP’s congressional leadership have the will to push the issue until Democrats make it a showdown over a government shutdown...
Many Republicans remember the disaster that befell the party after the 1995 spending fight with President Bill Clinton that led to a shutdown. But DeMint points out that this fight, unlike that one, would be over a high-profile issue on which Republicans are clearly supported by the American public. Drilling is popular, and the Democratic majority is not — and that is a recipe for success.
“The chances of us winning are much greater than the chances of us losing on this, because the American people are so tuned in on the issue.” DeMint said. “It’s not like the obscure issues of spending levels that predominated in the last government shutdown. And I think many voters will wonder: What good are the Republicans if they won’t even stand up on this?” And that is a perfectly legitimate question.
Indeed, it looks like we will find out shortly whether this group of Republicans is any good at all. Recent signs say that it just may be.
Recent Comments