“Democrats in the chamber chanted ‘shame, shame, shame’ as the final tally was announced,” reports Reuters about today’s “cliffhanger vote held open by Republican leaders until they won,” passing a bill “clearing the way for U.S. oil refineries to expand.” (There’s a CNN video via BradBlog (QT and Windows), but ThinkProgress (thanks, sjct) has the link to American Progress’s C-SPAN video (QT only). This is a far more complete video than CNN’s.)
When over two dozen Republicans initially voted no, DeLay, Barton, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and new Majority Leader Roy Blunt circled the chamber and cajoled the holdouts.
The palm-sweating vote switched from “yes” to “no” several times, but Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, the speaker pro tempore, did not gavel the vote closed until it swung in the Republicans’ favor.
Several Democrats protested that the vote was being held open. “I am informed that every member of Congress who is in town has voted,” Democratic whip Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland said at one point, when the tally was 210 yes, 214 no.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi also complained, saying the proceedings were bringing “dishonor to the House.”
I heard Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) on C-SPAN following the vote, state that the “energy” bill has almost no chance of passing the Senate but the consensus of all the Democrats who spoke on C-SPAN was that civility is gone from a House held hostage by Delay and his minions. Markey said that a number of “moderate Republican” were opposed to the bill because of its environmental consequences. Markey predicted today’s events will mark a “turning ponit” for moderate Republicans.
Raw Story interviewed Nancy Pelosi — who can be heard on American Progress’s C-SPAN video or the CNN video via BradBlog, crying out for a chance to speak. Pelosi said:
“What you saw on the House floor this afternoon was a shameless display of the Republican culture of corruption … the Republican majority will go to any length to satisfy the greed of the energy companies over meeting the needs of the American people.
A vote that was supposed to take five minutes took more than nine times that long because the indicted Republican leader of the House of Representatives needed extra time to twist the arms necessary to pass a bill that is against the interests of the American people, against consumers, against taxpayers, and against the environment.
Crooks and Liars got the video from C-SPAN. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!
Oh cool. I checked him about an hour ago and he was gone. I’ll add his link… I’ve been scouring the Web for the video, sigh. Checked every search engine, CNN, C-SPAN, etc., etc. Wish I had video software.)
oOps, sorry for the confusion. My comment was a question/statement of hope that he had it up at C&L rather than letting you know that it was there.
I don’t see it at Crooks and liars.
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/07/house-block-vote/
This version is MUCH BETTER! It’s longer, it is more clear. .. and it’s without the talking head stuff on the CNN version … thanks!
Markey said that a number of “moderate Republican” Congresspeople were opposed to the bill because of its environmental consequences. Markey predicted today’s events will mark a “turning point” for moderate Republicans.
Lord, let it be so!
Even if they just want to form an independent caucus apart from the republican party and not become democrats, I could live happily with that…
Heard some sound clips from this on NPR and it was incredible. Sounded like the British House of Commons.
…will finally get upset enough to … uh … er… do what exactly?
…form an independent caucus…
“You may say I’m a dreamer…” – John Lennon
How many moderate Rpeublicans are left these days? I can think of 2 in the senate.
Come ON Dems! Use this chance to galvanize and find your rediscover your roots and not just pay lip service-homage to them…
Get’m!
I listened to a press conference by a Dem. Rep. and he said this is common to the Rep. led House, and he listed about 10 important votes that were held in the past, some of them even longer than this one.
That sure cleared up something for me…while watching the 5 min. votes that dragged on and on and I do think it happens in the Senate as well
According to the theory of relativity, time slows down the faster you move (compared to someone standing still). So if they get democratic heads spinning at a significant fraction of the speed of light it gives them up to an hour to go around and twist arms…
The Dopper effect explains why the yowls from the democrats become more high pitched the more outrageous the republicans behave.
I’d like to go into more detail but I’m still writing this up for submission for an IgNobel prize next year…
I know I read somewhere that oil company revenues were UP 50% in the last quarter. They don’t need no stinkin’ tax breaks/subsidies/hand-outs/regulation relaxations from the government! And there was nothing in this bill that gives Americans a break at the pump. No provision for, say, reducing the cost to consumers in exchange for tax breaks on polluting the environment. What Orwellian name did they give this bill? Something like “Gas Security for America 2005.” Har. Should be more acurately named, “Let’s make our Campaign Contributors Richer 2005.”
I’ve got a suggestion for Conyers, Slaughter, Pelosi: Next time this kind of shit is going down just rush the Pro Tem and wrestle that damn gavel out of his hand. Yeah, have ’em call security and get yourselves arrested, dammit. If Cindy can do it, so can you!
Seriously. I hope one of them reads and takes your advice. I don’t know if there’s never such a thing as bad publicity, but we’re at a point where we just need to get dissenting voices heard by hook or by crook.
It used to be wise to chill during an airplane hijacking. Afterall, all the nutcase wanted was a detour to Cuba or Algiers so the best strategy was go passive and enjoy the free ride. Now, of course, a mere box cutter would not hold back the surge of humanity beating the hijacker to a pulp. New data, new response.
Same for the House. We now know that a postponed vote has nothing to do with discussing the next item on the agenda as they have in the past. Delays mean Delay is free to intimidate, cajol, bribe…
So next time, when Waxman gets ignored, he should shout, “They’ve hijacked the House!” And Pelosi should yell, “Let’s roll!’ And be followed by a phalanx of able-bodied defenders of the scheduled Congressional destination. Afterall, doing nothing could mean crashing into a tall building or losing civil order…
Hear me: I’m not threatening; I’m an old lady with disabilities. But, I’ve grown up surrounded by guys in pick-up trucks with shotgun racks in the back window. If gas hits $4/gal these guys are going to start shooting people… and it won’t be the guilty parties. Like I said in another comment, better a bloodless revolt than the real thing.
Based on the reactions from CNN, and the WaPo, the Democrats are going to be have to more dramatic if they want to illiuminate American about what went down — neither outlet seems to care about this.
The NY Times is running an AP story on its site which at least addresses the Democrats complaints.
As a former MSM – what would you suggest they do to be “more dramatic”
serious question – no snark.
I agree.
there was a sign at an office I used to work at.
If you want results different than those you now have, you have to do something differently.
High time for the Dems to do something differently – but what might get positive media attention about powerplays like this?
Good handle, btw.
How about getting one of those Republicans so freaked out that he punches Nancy Pelosi?
That’d be different. And might garner more publicity.
I didn’t see this until now, so I’m late in responding.
Actually, I answered this in another post: the Dems should have marched right out of the chambers, assembled on the steps of the capitol and had Pelosi read a statement to the press. (Some Newt Gingrich did on a number of occasions.)
It is not enough for a few people who watch C-Span to see what goes on, you need to get the lazy press to take notice. In a word, civil disobedience.
Pelosi’s statement was nice — she needs to keep going — make the Republicans pay for this for the next month — always bring it up before every vote — even procedural votes.
This is made for TV drama. Let’s see how it plays out on the networks tonite.
Excellent display of cajones (or whatever you call those things).
Let’s hope Markey is right in saying this will be a turning point for moderate, (i.e. rational), Repubs.
If the rational Repubs can repudiate the extremists who’ve hijacked their party, and if the real Dems can repudiate the corporate appeasers and so-called centrists attempting to hijack the Dem party, we might get a functional political environment again that can do the business of the country.
Cries of shame is one thing (and a good thing).
Where was the press conference called immediately afterward with EVERY Democrat attending to express their extreme displeasure for the cameras?
I may be misinformed or uninformed on this, or I might simply be contrarian, but I question whether there will be strong enthusiasm by the oil conglomerates to invest in the construction of new refineries.
The reason I wonder is that, with peak oil approaching imminently, (peak oil meaning the point at which the amount of oil being pumped out of the earth is less than it was the year before), for the oil companies to be spending huge amounts of money to gear up to refine what will inevitably be less oil than they’re processing now seems counterintuitive.
Even if it was a sure thing that the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore in southeren California were opened to full exploitation by Bigoil, those reserves by themselves might not even be enough to offset the inevitable, and fairly imminent decline in MidEast oil. (I think offshore US reserves are merely estimated, not proven, [in a dubious study]at a “best case” number of around 76billion barrels).
I’ve thought that it’s unlikely that any of the bigoil congloms will drill in ANWR either smply because the field development costs vs the amount of oil estimated to be there might simply be far too much expense for too little profit. I think building new refineries might involve the same calculus. (Obviously there might be a huge hole in my awareness here, so if anyone could enlighten me on this if I’m off the mark I’d welcome it.)
Oh! In no way do I endorse this egregious energy bill. Aside from the refinery provisions, I’m certain that there are numerous other reasons for crying “Shame Shame, Shame”.
These were exactly my thoughts and like you I’m not that up on what big oil is thinking but I’m wondering about this whole refinery thing also.
My only other thought was that this was a way for repugs look like they are doing something about energy crisis while in fact doing nothing-if big oil won’t build the refineries.
Of course the more obvious and long reaching plan would have been to raise mpg standards for vehicles that auto makers would have to abide by..say 40mpg…nah that would actually presume some simple common sense or guts on the part of lawmakers.
Yes! I think perhaps the refinery schtick was added as a way to help create a facade of legitimacy to the thing by giving the bill the appearance of taking steps to improve the oil supply through increased refining capacity. In short, a diversion of sorts to fool the public into thinking this bill will actually do something beneficial for them, while the true nature of the bil, (the massive looting of the treasury), accelerates at warp speed.
My opinion is that they don’t care if we’ve reached peak. All they care about is profits. Period. They’re in it for the short term grab. Kinda reminds me of the question put to Bush about what history would say about him. His answer said a lot about how much, or little, he cares about what people think. He said history wouldn’t matter because we’d all be dead.
Yep the government covers enough of big oils costs and they’ll build 50 oil refineries. Use them then mothball them, its not their money. Every Bush bill has more tax cuts for the corporations. Its getting down right sinister.
I agree that all they (Big Oil and all the rest of Bush regime’s industrialist pals) are interested in is profits, but this is why I question whether these companies will want to be throwing money into refinery construction at precisely the time when the oil supply begins to level off.
I’ve heard estimates of a couple hundred million dollars to build a new refinery, even without conforming to existing environmental regulations. Also, it seems that the fixed costs of operating refineries are quite high, meaning that profitability hinges on those plants operating at or near full capacity. Even though it’s clear in the post Hurricane Katrina situation that reineries are making vastly more money than previously, I think the fact that no new refineries have been built in the US since the ’70s is worth remembering, and that ultimately Big Oil might make just as much money simply importing more refined fuel than they already do and just jacking the price on it more, rather than investing mountains of money to build a network of new refineries that ultimately might lie dormant for lack of crude 10 or 20 years from now.
In summary, in their drive for profit, it may be that new refineries are less profitable than continuing on the way it is now.
Is really bulls…! at times, this being one of them. I guess our leaders in DC. can wring their hands, and send a letter to the speaker of the house in protest. God this really sucks!
Its like watching the birth of an opposition party. Inspiring video.
Does anyone know if any of the Dem leaders in the House listen to us, listen to “We the People”?
Can we even get their attention at anytime except when they’re campaigning and looking to seize our votes?
I agree with commenters upthread talking about civil disobedience as a reraslistic measure we may have to be taking more often. As someone who grew up in a pretty dysfunctional family, I can say with certitude that our government is completely dysfunctional now and playing by the rules of tradition and decorum will only enable the dysfunctioality to get worse.
You see the GOP has these things called strategeries. They know what they want so they set it up IN ADVANCE then just wait for God to step in.
….in the meanwhile Democrats are still waiting for the GOP to play nice…
I wrote this in May… of what the GOP has done IN advance to build more refineries:
The DLC home of LIEberman coming out and telling the Dems not to fight base closings has now sealed my doubts… yeah right…it’s for the soldiers.
But we strongly urge critics of the Bush administration’s overall national security strategy — among whom we count ourselves — to avoid the temptation to turn the BRAC into a symbolic fight over unrelated issues. We share the concerns of most Democrats about the administration’s deplorable failure to deploy enough troops to perform the missions we have given them without a “back-door draft” involving extended tours of duty and excessive reliance on Guard and Reserve units, and about its parallel failure to support military personnel and their families. But more and better-supported troops do not require more redundant bases, and indeed, the savings that BRAC could produce will help make it possible to meet the armed forces’ actual needs.
My Prediction:
The vote Frist is waiting for is not who is pro and con the Filibuster… Frist is waiting for this vote: Military officials say the requested changes, which could be approved this week as part of the defense authorization bill for 2006, are essential to preserve the quality of training and to avoid lawsuits over possible violations of statutes that govern air, water and waste.
If this has been approved then Frist has all the ammunition he needs to Nuke the Filibuster because he will have an unlimited resource to bribe the Senate. And since the DLC are already eager for the base closings I am assuming this vote has passed already under our noses.
and… LIEberman the slime bucket is going to get paid.
This is the background for the above: It looks like Katrina and Rita have handed the GOP the missing piece of the military/oil/nuclear industry puzzle:
Pieces of a military/oil/nuclear industry are falling strangely into place.
PUZZLE PIECE ONE:
PUZZLE PIECE TWO
Suddenly all of these “abandoned” bases are to be used as refineries or nuclear plants… New London already has nuclear facilites for it’s submarines.
President Bush proposed allowing oil companies to build new refineries at abandoned military bases and encouraging new nuclear power plants in steps that critics said would do nothing to address America’s immediate problem of high gasoline prices.
“The problem is clear. This problem did not develop overnight, and it’s not going to be fixed overnight,” Bush said in lowering expectations for immediate relief.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Bush’s announcement “amounts to little more than half-measures and wrongheaded policies that will do nothing to address the current energy crisis or break the stranglehold that foreign oil has on our nation.”
Bush, speaking to a friendly crowd of small business leaders, urged Congress to include in energy legislation now moving on Capitol Hill a plan to let oil companies use former military bases to build new refineries.
No new U.S. oil refineries have been built since the 1970s, mostly because of the lengthy process to obtain environmental permits from state regulators and opposition from local communities.
PUZZLE PIECE THREE
The only obstacle to turn the military complexes into oil refineries is the enviromental concern… but hey guess what the Pentagon asked for this week?
Why?
Military officials say the requested changes, hich could be approved this week as part of the defense authorization bill for 2006 ,[WAS THIS APPROVED????] are essential to preserve the quality of training and to avoid lawsuits over possible violations of statutes that govern air, water and waste.
With more than 100,000 American military personnel in Iraq, training issues have taken on a heightened sense of urgency, giving the request a better chance of passing this year despite opposition from environmental advocacy groups and state and local governments.
“Workarounds, while sounding reasonable and feasible, cannot sacrifice realistic combat training,” Paul W. Mayberry, a deputy under secretary of defense, said in a speech last month, referring to interruptions to military exercises. “All too often, such workarounds chip away at basic fabric and underpinnings of the training objectives.”
Mr. Mayberry cited several examples, including the way troops headed for Iraq learned to roll up their tents, a security issue at night because of the way light reflects off the material. In training, he said, they were faced with “an environmental requirement” not to disturb desert tortoises in the training area.
Well, I for one aqm proud of the dems. They stood up and called a spade a spade and were shouted over and ignored. Kind of like watching O’Leilly or Hannity huh?
The NYTs print edition this (Saturday) morning. Has the story on the vote. Headline:
The story mentions it was an unpleasant debate. They mention arm twisting on the floor. They quote a bit of Pelosi’s statement. But they fail to mention that a group of dissenting lawmakers banded together and shouted down the corrupt legislative process our Congress has now become: “Shame! Shame! Shame!” The headline, and the article, do not reflect reality. I guess I shouldn’t be so outraged. Business as usual. Well, at least some politicians acted outraged. Maybe their anger will spread to the MSM someday. Not holding my breath.