Posted on 07/10/2008 5:11:06 AM PDT by Rufus2007
Drastic times may call for drastic actions according to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).
DeMint told participants in a “national Tele Town Hall meeting” on July 9 there was a movement among senators to shut down the Senate floor if an up-or-down vote was not held on the offshore exploration for oil and natural gas. The senator maintained the added energy was an issue of national security to prevent the nation from being held “hostage” by OPEC.
“One of the things that we’re looking at here – a few of us have been meeting about ways that we might just close down the Senate floor until we get a vote on offshore exploration, as well as developing the supplies of oil and natural gas that we have, you know, around the country,” DeMint said. “We’re trying to come up with some way that we can just – we can get the attention and create a sense of urgency that was just expressed because that is very true,” he explained during the call organized by Americans for Prosperity.
...more (w/audio)...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessandmedia.org ...
DeMint is DaMan.
Finally, someone’s testes drop.
Are the Pubs going to grow a pair?
Obama will miss all votes on energy...BET!!
Thank you Sen. Demint from a SC supporter. Git ‘er done!
The GOP needs to come up with a Manhattan type Project for energy and make it the cornerstone of the election.
about six years to late but you know what they say.....
I’ll believe it when I see it. However, if this does actually come to pass it will be a HUGE momentum boost for the GOP going into November.
What’s with this EXPLORATION crap? We know where the offshore oil is now go DRILL IT!
Great senator, great post, great FReeper comments! BTTT!
You are using the language of the Dems [and environmental wackos] proposal, i.e., another Manhattan Project. Only they are using it to describe alternative sources like wind and solar.
Don't hold your breath. The Pubbies have a long, proud history of serving as doormats and useful idiots for the Dems.
IMO, this is just another political "Show-n-Tell" moment to make us think that our ELECTED "representatives" are actually going to do something about providing additional domestic sources of oil. In the end, the status will remain quo and the Dems will still be obstructing our ability to provide our own sources of oil.
Hoping to win on offshore drilling, GOP drops Alaska push
McClatchy Newspapers ^ | July 9, 2008 | Erika Bolstad
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans have dropped the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from their energy policy discussions, focusing instead on persuading Democrats to lift a moratorium on offshore drilling.
It's a move that has angered the longtime standard-bearer for drilling in ANWR, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who has vowed to put the issue back in front of his colleagues in the Senate.
"It's not off my table," Stevens said. "Unless you include Alaska in an energy solution, it's a non-solution."
The decision to drop the ANWR proposal comes as both the House and the Senate are considering legislation intended to respond to the rising cost of gasoline. The two chambers are considering a number of different proposals, including legislation that would clamp down on speculation in the oil commodities markets, which is suspected of forcing prices upward for consumers.
Other proposals include a push by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to have President Bush release fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The government has stopped adding oil to the reserve, but advocates of releasing oil from the reserve say that wouldhelp drive down prices.
There's a reason that some have compared the quest for energy independence to the Manhattan Project or the Apollo moon landing. Like those historic efforts, moving away from an oil economy is a major challenge that will require a sustained national commitment.... Washington needs to get serious about working together to find a real solution to our energy crisis.
Right on Jim!!! A Republican with cajones. Glad to have voted for him.
In October 2006, Congress passed the Secure Fence Act, which gave the Dems poltical cover going into the midterms. Since then, the Dems have thrown various roadblocks to stall the implementation of the legislation.
Shut down the senate?? You mean there actually is anyone there?? You would never know it. Their absence certainly would not be missed. The U.S. has been without a senate for a long time.
The Democrats treat it as only alternative sources, but we need both. We need more oil now and for the next 30 years. We need alternative energy technologies for the future which will take 20-30 years to get phased in before it is widely used. The reality is that fossil fuels are here to stay for a while.
Politic is the art of the possible, and setting priorities is important. If they can get the offshore drilling going, it will show people that yes, we darn well can drill our way out of the problem, and then we can get on with drilling "ANWR" or any other place we find the stuff.
I strongly suggest all FReeprs give this guy a call today...show him support. A Republican with backbone is very rare these days.
I strongly suggest all FReeprs give this guy a call today...show him support. A Republican with backbone is very rare these days.
Payback is a mother, isn’t it Democrats?
I agree. My point is that Obama is the one calling for another Manhattan-like project on energy. McCain has been calling his energy proposal the Lexington Project in honor of the American Revolution and the “shot heard around the world.” Your use of the terminolgy “Manhattan Project” has been co-opted by the Dems.
Demint seems to be one of the few in the gop who have not been castrated.Good for him and us.
They need show substantial efforts NOW to alleviate some of the problems created by the current oil/fuel/food/heating costs.
Otherwise, they are going to lose in November.
Voters vote based on their economic situation at the time.
If they feel pinched or crushed, they are going to vote for change.
If they feel comfortable, they are going to vote for status quo.
Guess which ‘feel’ those early winter heating bills arriving home in October and early November are going to generate.
Given the GOP's showing the last 6-8 years, it remains to be seen whether these are permanent cojones or merely an ad hoc pair...
Someone in the GOP with a spine. Is he going to get thrown out??
If you like $5/gal, Thank Congress.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Yeah I get the feeling that all of the other Republicans were huddled in a dark corner, ready to discredit Senator DeMint’s comments should the reaction be a poor one.
sHUShutting down Congress is the ONLY way they can improve their ratings.
The best government is the government that governs least.
Drill here. Drill now.
The GOP Senators need to get on TV and start demogoguing this like the Dems demogogue everything else.
Finally a Republican hero. I’ve been waiting, and waiting, and wait..........
DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
I strongly suggest all FReeprs give this guy a call today...show him support. A Republican with backbone is very rare these days.
Just did.
843-727-4525 DeMint’s # in Charleston
We need to prod them. We're winning on this issue. Even RATS are beginning to try to cover their butts. They're feeling the heat.
House Republicans are doing a great job hammering this issue on CSPAN. They’re fighting.
Bump!
This is true, however it has been 1 party and one party only that has blocked every possibility to become energy independant. They have blocked offshore drilling, nuclear power, and Clinton barred Utahs clean coal and put ANWAR off limits. The Republicans were in control, but because of the 60 vote rule, nothing could get passed and it is ALL due to the Democrap party.
If the Democrats were smart, they’ll vote yes on this issue and make this go away come november.
You are 100% right on. It will contrast the GOP with the effete, limp-wristed, brie-and-chardonnay sipping liberals.
Our plan would be muscular and manly -- drill offshore, build refineries, build nuclear, and override 40 years of leftist legislation regarding permits, environmental impact statements, etc.
Theirs would involve solar panels on every roof, wind turbines in scenic mountain wildernesses, energy conservation, higher fuel and electricity taxes, more mass transit, commuting on bicycles, and an exhortation that we all return to simpler ways including cleaning our clothing in the river and line drying in the backyard.
Guess which solution would prevail?
I watched John McCain on the three evening nets - do interviews and explain why he should be President - what I saw was was not DeMint, but a senator practiced in the art of carefully explaining his ideas and wishing for a 51% majority to show up at the vote of 100. He is not forceful and while he had good ideas there is no PUNCH in them. He thinks that 300 million Americans think like 100 senators or the PBS interviewers - too bad, so sad for us because Obama is weaker and will put his foot in his mouth daily and McCain will smile and say, “My friend in the senate ___.”
You've got to be kidding? You've got one or two "republicans" in the Senate with just enough artificial testosterone to pass as males.
"The Republican Party...Testicles and Testosterone Excluded."
Is that a backbone I see?
ATTAGIRL!
I just called and spoke with a very nice lady...light up the phones FReepers!
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