Senate Energy Bill Fails in Bid for a Final Vote

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: CNN

An effort to require better mileage from U.S. cars and trucks failed in its bid for a full Senate vote Friday morning, 53 to 42. Opponents of the measure, which passed the House Thursday, had threatened to filibuster the bill, and its supporters could not muster the 60 votes required to bring it to a full vote.

The bill, which was opposed by President Bush, would have ended some tax loopholes for the oil industry and used those funds to extend tax credits for renewable energy sources.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, had said earlier that he would require the four Senate Democrats currently on the presidential campaign trail to return to Washington if the bill came up for a full vote this weekend.

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/07/senate-energy-bill-fails-in-bid-for-a-final-vote/

[aquart]

1. Damn straight you will, Harry.

[recidivist]

19. Solution: strip out the tax increases and repass the bill.

I hold no brief for the oil companies except to note that oil and gasoline, next to tobacco and alchohol, are already probably the most heavily taxed consumer products out there. People complain about oil company profits, but those are a fraction of what government takes in taxes and royalties.

That said, I see no reason a good energy bill should be held hostage to a tax increase on oil. You can be pro-renewables and pro-conservation without being anti-oil, anti-coal, anti-nuclear, etc. Even if we can get renewables up to 20-25% of the nation's energy mix by 2030, with is at the far edge of the range of possibilities, we will still need expanded production from ALL sources to meet anticipated energy demand.

Nuclear is still the cheapest way to generate baseline load. Coal is next. Conventional petroleum, even at $90 barrel oil, is still the cheapest transportation fuel except (perhaps) for corn ethanol, which we can't produce in enough volume. Too many people on the left think they have to be anti-conventional energy to be pro-renewables. Not so. Energy use is soaring. This calls for an all-of-the-above solution.

So dump the tax increases and repass the bill. President Bush kicked off the current round of energy policy poker back in January with his 20 in 10 plan, which called for a 20 percent reduction in U.S. gasoline consumption and a 35 billion gallon Alternative Fuels Standard by 2017. It would be a Bad Thing if a Democratic Congress can't pass at least that much.

[mike_c]

2. we have no effective government in this country any longer....

It's frightening to imagine-- one of the most powerful nations on Earth can no longer govern itself effectively.

[phantom power]

3. It happens to all empires, eventually.

They rot from the inside out, eventually governed by ineffectual fops.

[Teaser]

4. 53 + 4 != 60

odds we swing some extra repugs = 0;

[laconicsax]

9. Huh?

53+4=57...

[Teaser]

11. you are familiar with the notation "!=" are you not?

.

[laconicsax]

17. I'm going to have to say probably not.

I'm familiar with the notation n! which is short for n*(n-1)*(n-2)...(n-(n-1)), but I'm guessing that's not what you meant.

I'll stand by my original "huh?"

[unhappycamper]

5. Call me silly, but why don't we MAKE them filibuster? n/t

[annabanana]

13. I've been screaming this for MONTHS!

Everyone thinks it's the Democrats fault.

Because no one outside the beltway knows that the Republicans are filibustering.

Because no one on the 6 O'Clock News is telling them.

And every American knows what a filibuster looks like, don't they? It looks like Jimmy Stewart, sweating and raging and losing his voice. It looks like exhausted sausages reading the D.C. phone book at 3am, with everyone else sitting there, bleary eyed.

Make those obstructionists do it out in public. Make them do it long enough that the media HAS to come around.
Make them do it long enough that the media has to explain it a hundred different ways.
They have to fill the air time, you know. Make the media explain it until everyone understands exactly WHAT the Republicans are objecting to.

Health Care for poor children.
Time at home for our exhausted troops.
An end to that God awful war.

When you force the media to explain it, Americans will understand just exactly what has been the problem all this year.

[rodeodance]

6. Roll call vote for Senate (energy bill)--looky here for how they voted:

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Roll call vote for Senate (energy bill)--looky here for how they voted:
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2423361#2423361
2423361, Roll call vote for Senate (energy bill)--looky here for how they voted:
Posted by rodeodance on Fri Dec-07-07 10:29 AM



http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/a_three_sections_with_teasers/votes.htm


Recent Votes Refreshed every 20 minutes.

Vote Date Question Result Description
00416 07-Dec On the Cloture Motion Rejected Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Concur in the House Amdts. to the Senate Amdts. to H.R. 6; Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007


Vote Counts: YEAs 53
NAYs 42
Not Voting 5


Alphabetical by Senator Name
Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Nay
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Nay
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Nay
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Not Voting
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Nay
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Not Voting
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kennedy (D-MA), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Not Voting
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Nay
Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Martinez (R-FL), Not Voting
McCain (R-AZ), Not Voting
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Tester (D-MT), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
Webb (D-VA), Yea
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Thanks, rodeodance! nt

[thecrow]

10. Shame on all the repubs. This is a no-brainer

Also shame on the Dems who voted NAY, Byrd and Bayh.

And to a lower post, yeah, CNN is reporting badly slanted news to their base.

[feminazi]

16. and Landrieu

*

[TheFarseer]

15. wow, even Ben Nelson and Carl Levin voted for it

and it didn't pass

[Maine-i-acs]

8. This is crappy journaism. The bill PASSED 53-42! CNN should say:

"The Senate passed sweeping reforms of car mileage and oil industry profits. However, the majority that approved the legislation is short of the 60 votes needed to sustain a threatened Republican filibuster."

[annabanana]

12. Roadblock Republicans have stymied the Senate's desire to do the people's business.

AGAIN!

[classysassy]

14. Damn oily rethugs

the oil boys must have handed out lots of bucks,those gready bastards are helping destroy this country.

[NickB79]

18. This is why I have so little hope we will overcome global warming or Peak Oil anymore

Theoretically, there are many ways to at least mitigate for these coming disasters and soften the blow. There are numerous technological fixes that could help significantly. Do I believe they will be implemented in time? Not a chance.

The reason, of course, is politics. When you crunch the numbers, you realize that technological fixes simply don't go far enough. Replacing a few lightbulbs with CFL's, driving a Prius, eating more locally grown food, it's all a drop in the bucket. To prevent catastrophic climate change, we need to reduce global CO2 emissions between 50-80%. In short, we need to conserve like our lives depended on it (which they do, actually).

Now imagine a modern-day Jimmy Carter, getting on TV and telling his fellow Americans that we need to conserve. That we need to stop driving as much, to take the bus, and when we drive we trade in our SUV's for subcompacts. We need to walk more, and build communities that don't force you to rely on a car. We need to stop building these monstrous McMansions 30 miles from work on acre lots, and instead move into smaller homes or condos.

Would that politician get re-elected? Hell no. He (or she) would be lucky to get out of town without being tarred and feathered. Americans simply don't want to hear someone tell them the truth, that our way of life is unsustainable and that technology isn't going to come riding to the rescue before it's too late. Americans, by and large, WANT to be lied to. They want a politician who will tell them everything will be ok, that we'll just trade in our Hummers for Hydrogen Hummers, that we'll all slap some solar panels on our homes and everything will be alright.

This vote just solidifies everything I've feared and expected about our society's response to the disasters that are about to kick us in the teeth.