Posted by
fiddler on Saturday, August 02, 2008 9:00:00 AM
Just whose side are the Democrats in Congress on, that of the American people, or the Democratic Party? Forgive me for stating the obvious: gas prices have soared over the spring and summer. Although prices at the pump have fallen somewhat since the President announced that he would lift the executive order that prohibits off-shore drilling for oil, Congressional Democrats' refusal to act their part and lift the moratorium have left gas prices close to $4 a gallon, and are still $1.11 a galllon higher than they were a year ago (
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391921,00.html). Barack Obama says the problem is with the GOP: they won't allow amendments to the Gulf of Mexico Energy Bill that would focus "on how to reduce the demand for oil" (
http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060801-statement_of_se_6/). In the meantime, Congress has adjourned for the month of August, fiddling, as it were, while Rome burns.
To that I say, Fiddlesticks!
Yes, this country needs a change in energy policy. We rely too much on imports of foreign oil, and in the 30+ years since the energy crisis of the'70's, neither party had done anything to decrease that dependence. Now that things have reached an apparent tipping point, the party that is in control of Congress wants to play a childish game, refusing to allow a vote on off-shore drilling and drilling in ANWR. They say that it's just a short-term solution. Granted! But it's a start. We must solve the short-term problem so that we can focus on the longer-term problem. Saying that we can't pass an energy bill that would address this because the other party won't allow amendments is tantamount to saying that if we can't fix the whole problem right now, we shouldn't try to fix it at all. The presumptive Democratic nominee for the office of president, and the Democratic Party leadership in Congress, have effectively said that if the Republicans in Congress won't allow them to add these amendments now, they'll take their ball and go home.
So just whose side are they on? If the Democrats were smart (and that is arguable), they would vote NOW to open up drilling, increase refinery capacity, and increase supply, and then work on legislation to address the long-term problems of energy faced by this country. Instead, they seem to be more interested in "saving the planet." They seem to be driven more by an extreme left-wing agenda than by genuine concern for the welfare of the people of this country. For a party that claims it wants to increase its majorities in the House and Senate and retake control of the White House, this seems to be a very strange way to go about it.
What can we do? Let our voices be heard. Call, email, write, fax members of Congress and remind them that they work for us; we are not their chattel. And vote. That is the real power of the the American people. We don't have to allow them to dictate to us what they think is best for the country.
As for those who will cast their votes based on their dissatisfaction with the current candidate, I'll write more on that in another blog.