People Vs. Pelosi

PLEASE REGISTER IN YOUR MEMORY BANK HOW MS BELOSI SIDE STEPS THE QUESTIONS ABOUT LETTING THE HOUSE VOTE ON THE DIRLLING MESURES. THIS IS ANOTHER OBSTRUCTION BY
D E M O C R A T S






People Vs. Pelosi
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, August 05, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Congress: In telling House Democrats it's OK to vote for drilling, Nancy Pelosi has conceded that on the biggest election issue she's out of step with the American people. Will Republicans seize this opportunity?
Washington's Politico.com reports that House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, has pounced after hearing that House Speaker Pelosi is privately giving permission to House Democrats with iffy re-election prospects to support drilling for more domestic oil and gas.

"My message to Democratic lawmakers is this: If you're really for increased American energy production, then prove it by putting it in writing," Boehner said as he called on his colleagues across the aisle to sign a discharge petition to force drilling legislation onto the floor. Democratic Reps. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania and Don Cazayoux of Louisiana have both asked Pelosi to allow a vote.

But when George Stephanopoulos over and over again asked Pelosi on ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday why she would not allow a straight up-or-down vote, the speaker bobbed and weaved.

"But if you feel you have the better arguments, why not give a straight up-or-down vote for drilling?" the former Clinton White House operative asked.

Her answer: "Because the misrepresentation is being made that this is going to reduce the price at the pump."

What Pelosi is afraid of is that a majority of the U.S. Congress believes what most Americans know — that drilling will indeed reduce pump prices.

Stephanopoulos pointed out that when Pelosi came in as speaker, she promised in writing "a full amendment process that grants the minority the right to offer its alternatives" — which she now refuses to provide.

Reminded of this, Speaker Pelosi became flustered, making a couple of false starts with her answer before remarking: "They'll have to use their imagination as to how they can get a vote . . . ."

If Congress removed the ban on drilling offshore, gave access to the massive deposits of oil in the Alaskan Arctic and allowed the oil shale of the Western states to be tapped, the global petroleum market would immediately react positively, bringing pump prices down. Crude futures prices would plunge — as they already have over mere talk of a possible softening by Congress on drilling.

That's the last thing House Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and likely Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama want. (Obama now claims he'll "consider" drilling as part of an environmentalist package.)

More drilling and lower prices would mean that Big Oil is no longer the boogeyman, but rather the key to the solution. And it would mean that all the windmills, solar panels and geeky plug-in cars the Pelosi Democrats want to force down the throats of the American people would have to wait until they're economically viable.

That could spell disaster for Democrats in November.

House Republicans, led by Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana and Tom Price of Georgia, are continuing their historic protest on the House floor demanding a drilling vote, in spite of Congress being in its August recess. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is even set to appear Wednesday.

In an election year that was supposed to be a blowout in favor of the Democratic Party, Republicans have found a powerful populist issue that terrifies vulnerable House Democrats.

With gas consumers hurting and hostile regimes exploiting our dependence on foreign oil, John McCain and the GOP have three months to make the most of it.

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