Tuesday, September 23, 2008

You Know the Drill


Some good news amidst the unrelenting gloom rising from the Potomac:



WASHINGTON - Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters
Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.

This is only the first step, since Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are planning to wait for a better deal that they expect to get from a President Obama. If you needed a reason to get involved in electing people like Erik Paulsen and especially Ed Matthews, here it is. Ed has a well-thought out position on the issue that you can read here. His opponent's position is to do whatever Speaker Pelosi tells her to do.

Speaker Pelosi might try to pull this back in the next Congress, but a Speaker Boehner would not. Retiring Betty McCollum would be an excellent first step and an act of civic hygiene as well.
Cross-posted at True North

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