October 12, 2008 10:19:50 AM CDT
(Newser) – There’s nothing much Congress can do about gas prices, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post, so in an effort to look busy it's doing what it always does—blaming the other party. Yesterday Capital Hill saw no less than 12 events on energy costs, and every last one came down to partisan jabs.
In one conference room, John Kerry is decrying the Bush administration's “toothless, feckless” regulators, while in a nearby building, Mitch McConnell is ripping Democrats for waiting for alternative energy. “Americans have cars and require gasoline today—today!” he thunders. Late in the day, one rep hits on a solution: Noting all the “hot air and wind” in Congress, he asks “if we could harvest all of this.”
Source Washington Post
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Sep 19, 08 1:27 PM CDT People who startle more easily at loud noises or frightening images may be more prone to taking conservative political stances, reports the Washington Post. A new study suggests that there may be a biological basis for people's stands on contentious issues, with those who react less strongly to perceived threats seemingly predisposed to have liberal ideologies. More »
Sep 14, 08 3:00 PM CDT Why are Republicans chanting "drill, baby, drill," a call for an outdated, 19th-century technology like fossil fuels? Because they are turning every political debate into a cultural "wedge Issue," Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times—"including even energy policy, no matter how stupid it makes the voters and no matter how much it might weaken America." More »
Aug 5, 08 5:05 PM CDT A group of House Republicans continued their protest on the floor of Congress today against Nancy Pelosi's decision to adjourn for summer recess without a vote on their energy plan, which calls for offshore drilling. The lawmakers, speaking in a dimly lit chamber witout a public-address system for the third straight day, say they'll keep it up until Pelosi reconvenes Congress and schedules a vote, reports the Chicago Tribune. More »
Jul 26, 08 3:15 PM CDT US lawmakers have been raging against no-bid deals struck by foreign oil companies in Iraq—but impeding them would be pure folly, energy consultant Raad Alkadiri argues in the Washington Post. Most of these companies have already advised Iraq on its oil fields for free; Baghdad only sought to formalize the business with contracts, which aren't cupcake deals, either. More »
Congress • gas prices • politics • energy • partisanship
