American Energy Act

I have been struggling for the last couple of days with the question of whether #dontGo is important. I am genuinely undecided. Here is some thinking on the positives, but also why it is not nearly enough and we need to keep our eye on the ball.

#DontGo is really important because Republican activists are feeling energized. There is something to fight for. This is new. People are chatting. But that doesn't make a movement.

#DontGo also changes the focus to Congress. The Democrats' strategy right now is to focus everything on Bush and the Presidential race. If Congress and its single-to-low-teens is the focus, even for a little, that helps Republican Congressional candidates.

But these are defensive actions. Republican candidates are coming to town and getting local press for fighting for something. That's great, but it is defense.

Where is the offense?

The only robocalls I know of are going into Colorado because Mark Udall skipped a vote. I asked Tom Cole about more ... and he ducked. I have not seen stories of people crashing townhalls demanding House Democrats do something.

Where are the existing groups? The American Family Association has a 3.3m email list and has emailed on this issue. Have they sent something out about charging townhalls? No. What about Newt Gingrich, American Solutions, and their 1.5m? No.

In general, it is not clear what exactly #dontGo would do to put points on the scoreboard. There are three options.

First, Congress could pass a bipartisan energy bill in September. There are now bills in bvoth the House and the Senate that would suffice, although the House bill is substantially better. We need Nancy Pelosi's buy-in to bring stuff to the floor. And to do that, we need to pressure Democrats. And no one is doing that.

Second, Congress could just let the OCS and shale ban expire. This is the premise of the "Energy Freedom Day" proposals. Some argue that this is better than a bipartisan bill. Here, we need either 40 votes in the Senate against a Continuing Resolution or a majority in the House willing to block legislation that contains an extended OCS ban.

Third, we can polarize the environment on this issue.

What I don't understand is how #dontGo is directly on the path to any of these. We need to actually win something. This is improtant. And I see more motion than movement.

This is a transcript of  Media Lizzy's interview with Eric Cantor, Republican Chief Deputy Whip in the House of Representatives regarding yesterday's Sit-In on Capitol Hill protesting the decision by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to kill the debate on adding offshore oil drilling to the American Energy Act prior to the return of Congress in September.

ML - This is one of those moments of courage where we have a real opportunity to do the right thing for our country and see the House Democratic leadership that I talked to a few moments ago that sent me the email with the nasty comment about how this is just a stunt.  Well that’s just fine and he’s entitled to his opinion but the American people we know better.

(introduces Representative Cantor)

ML - While we were in the middle of our show today, one of our regular listeners had just gotten off the phone with another member of Congress and notified us that you guys were taking some pretty courageous actions on the House floor today.  Can you tell us a little about what is exactly happening and how we can assist you in making this work?

EC – I think what you saw happening today was a pretty extraordinary series of events.  Speaker Pelosi and her party had gaveled shut the Congress for the next month because we’re scheduled for August recess and instead of just leaving, there’s a small group of Republicans who decided that we wanted to make sure that we did everything possible to bring a vote to the floor on this issue of energy and gas prices.  There’s no more important issue facing Americas’ families today.  So we began the process of assuming the floor and speaking on this issue, calling out to the Speaker to ask her to reopen the House.  While I was actually speaking in the well on the floor of the House, she actually had the lights turned off, turned off the mikes, turned off the cameras, so that we were there speaking.  What happened was that one member after another began to fill in.  We had more than 50 members of Congress, each on the floor today for over 5 hours.  The chamber began to fill up with American people - people who may have been in town, who may have heard from your show, who may have heard on the blogs that something was going on in the Capitol.  Unfortunately most of America could not see because the Speaker had shut the cameras off and did not want to let the secret out, her secret that she did not want to allow a vote to ensure that we had an American energy plan in place starting with offshore drilling in this country. 

ML – Representative Cantor, that just blows my mind!  For the entire 2006 campaign season as I recall Speaker Pelosi did say that this was going to be the most open Congress ever. 

EC – That’s exactly right and she also pledged that she would have a common sense plan to bring down gas prices.  And yet, what have seen, the only policy proposal coming forward out of her office or Barack Obama’s campaign for that matter have been:

1. The Windfall Profits Tax, which we know doesn’t work, which we know if you tax the American energy producers you’re just going to increase the cost for Americans
2. A Use it or Lose It drilling bill which is really a farce because the assumption is that the leaseholders who have the rights to drill on Federal Lands don’t want to drill right now because maybe prices aren’t high enough, which is preposterous.  An act of Congress trying to open up those lands to other drillers won’t necessarily produce the oil.  It is just crazy to think that Congress can act and make oil come out of the ground. 
3. They try to say that it’s because of speculators that we have these high prices and if we shut down our capital market then somehow we can fix the gas prices too, which is utterly false.  The reason why we’ve seen so much activity in speculation and futures trading is because people are worried.  People are anticipating that prices will go up and what those markets do is allow there to be some smoothing, if you will, of the volatility.

Underlying all of it is the fact that China and India continue to grow and continue to consume more fossil fuel while at the same time we in America continue to as well.  And frankly, demand is going to outstrip supply in the foreseeable future which is why we ought to be on this floor voting rather than taking off for our August recess…

ML – Or her book tour!

EC – Or her book tour, exactly, without making sure that we take care of the People’s business which is first and foremost to try and bring gas prices down. 

ML – My question, and I would like for you to speak to this, is that when we look at just the basics, I mean the Environmental Left, has been trying to play Chicken with the American People under the auspices of Big Oil for a very long time.  And when I look at Big Oil, they actually a trillion dollars into investment and innovation, better technology and better research since 1996 if my memory serves me correctly.  I’m guessing that investing a trillion dollars wasn’t into some magical place, it was probably into jobs and doing things that would actually improve our economy given that it is in their best interest to have the latest technology and that requires manpower to make that happen.  I think that when the Democrats are playing Chicken with the American People on the House Floor and refusing to allow the debate, that we really have to remember who it is that they’re working for.  They work for us, and Speaker Pelosi promised the American People she would be the Speaker of the whole country, of the whole House, of both parties.  And squelching the debate when there is plenty of debate to be had, I think if we’re not going to look at drilling just because there are leases doesn’t mean that it is viable.  The trillion dollars has researched what is available in the outer continental shelf and if those leases are not viable then having additional drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf makes absolute sense, does it not?

EC – Absolutely, that’s the question facing the American People:  where is Speaker Pelosi?  What is she afraid of in terms of bringing a vote, a bill to the floor that we can vote on up or down?  Up – or down?  This is the People’s House and what the U.S. House of Representatives should be about.  We should be debating, crafting a bill that responds to the prices gripping America’s families right now which is high gas prices.  But yet, she’s taken off as you suggest for a book tour, the Democrats have fled town without doing America’s business first, without addressing high gas prices.  And it really, I think, is a sad day for the Middle Class in America.  Who’s speaking up for them?  Nancy Pelosi says “We’re not going to drill here in America but it’s ok to drill in Saudi Arabia, it’s ok for us to spend 700 billion dollars a year, a significant portion of our wealth, to the Middle East regimes, some of whom are very hostile to us.  It’s ok for them to do that but not us.”   Who’s sticking up for the Middle Class here?  That’s what we ought to be focusing on. 

ML – Well, absolutely.  How can we help you?  What can we do?

EC – You’re doing a terrific job of getting the message out on the air, across the Internet, on the blogs, we need to energize folks and to tell Speaker Pelosi to BRING CONGRESS BACK TO ACT so that we can have a vote on the American Energy Act to provide more American energy supply starting with offshore drilling right away. 

ML – I really appreciate your time, I know that you guys are very, very busy on The Hill, and this is one of those moments I think that all of us who are Republicans, who may have been waiting, waiting for that moment of inspiration.  I am really thankful to you for your leadership and I think this is one of those moments when, I know that the mainstream media doesn’t want to cover this too much but the Main Street folks do want it covered. 

EC – We thank you very, very much and encourage all the folks who are paying attention to speak out and demand Speaker Pelosi reconvene Congress so that we can have a vote. 

ML – I want to thank you so much, and I won’t ask you the Vice Presidential question, but you certainly have my vote! 

EC – (amiably) Thank you so much for what you’re doing, we’ll talk to you soon.

ML – All right, take care, Sir.  All right everyone, that was Eric Cantor who is the Chief Deputy Whip in the House of Representatives for the Republicans.  He is phenomenal.  He’s such a great leader, he’s such a great conservative, that is exactly the brand that we need driving Republicans for the next 20 years. 

(Note:  you can email Speaker Pelosi any time at this link)

(Note:  check out Rob Bluey's photos of the sit-in here)

Cross-posted at Lagomorphic Tendencies