Caving In...?

Are we seeing the first sign of the Democrats caving on oil drilling?  It's no secret that the proposals of Obama, Pelosi, and the other Democrat leaders would toss us backward to the disastrous economics of the 1970's, but they've been extremely reluctant to even address the issue, much less take action on it.  Now that the GOP is going for the jugular on the issue -- rightly believing they've got a mandate from the American people -- it appears that some cracks may be surfacing on the facade of Democrat unity and resolve.  For example, Charles Krauthammer recently blasted Pelosi's statement that she was blocking a vote on the Republican bill because she was trying to 'save the planet'.  That's ridiculous:

A lovely sentiment. But has Pelosi actually thought through the moratorium's actual effects on the planet?

Consider: 25 years ago, nearly 60 percent of U.S. petroleum was produced domestically. Today it's 25 percent. From its peak in 1970, U.S. production has declined a staggering 47 percent. The world consumes 86 million barrels a day; the United States, roughly 20 million. We need the stuff to run our cars and planes and economy. Where does it come from?

Places like Nigeria where chronic corruption, environmental neglect and resulting unrest and instability lead to pipeline explosions, oil spills and illegal siphoning by the poverty-stricken population -- which leads to more spills and explosions. Just this week, two Royal Dutch Shell pipelines had to be shut down because bombings by local militants were causing leaks into the ground.

Compare the Niger Delta to the Gulf of Mexico where deep-sea U.S. oil rigs withstood Hurricanes Katrina and Rita without a single undersea well suffering a significant spill.

The United States has the highest technology to ensure the safest drilling. Today, directional drilling -- essentially drilling down, then sideways -- allows access to oil that in 1970 would have required a surface footprint more than three times as large. Additionally, the U.S. has one of the most extensive and least corrupt regulatory systems on the planet.

Does Pelosi imagine that with so much of America declared off-limits, the planet is less injured as drilling shifts to Kazakhstan and Venezuela and Equatorial Guinea? That Russia will be more environmentally scrupulous than we in drilling in its Arctic?

The net environmental effect of Pelosi's no-drilling willfulness is negative. Outsourcing U.S. oil production does nothing to lessen worldwide environmental despoliation. It simply exports it to more corrupt, less efficient, more unstable parts of the world -- thereby increasing net planetary damage.

Pelosi doesn't get (or simply refuses to acknowledge) that her own energy policy stance actually creates more destruction to the environment.  She's trying to have her cake and eat it, too.

Lawrence Kudlow, too, says that the GOP message is working:

While Republicans on the House floor shouted "vote, vote, vote" and "lower gas prices," the Democratic majority turned off the lights, cameras, and microphones. Determined Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell offered unanimous-consent requests to vote on lifting the ban on deep-water exploration, and the Democrats objected. When McConnell asked Democrats if they'd overturn the ban at $4.50 a gallon, they replied "no." When he raised the price to $5, $7, and $10, they cried "no," "no," and "no."

Polls suggest that two-thirds to three-quarters of the nation wants to drill.

There is a voter revolt going on, and it reminds me of the anti-tax rebellion that lifted Ronald Reagan into office twenty-eight years ago. Is the conventional wisdom about to be swept away?

Excuse me??  Democrats wouldn't allow off-shore drilling if prices reached $10/gallon at the pump!  Do you see the problem in the Democrat party now??  Kudlow warns Democrats that their political fortunes may be dwindling because they've taken the wrong side on this issue.

Perhaps hitting most closely to home, Michelle Malkin posts the startling fact that 51% of California residents favor increased drilling for the first time in almost 30 years.  As one of the trend-setters in liberal policies, California is rife with environmental lunacy, so you know that if Californians want more drilling, it's a pervasive feeling across the country!  It also happens to be Pelosi's home state, so she's going to pay attention.

All of these things put together, along with lower consumption by Americans, has generated an unmistakable buzz about energy production.  The general feeling is that America will begin to explore new options and energy development in the near future.  The result?  You've seen it yourself at the pump already: lower prices.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see them fall at least another dollar per gallon, but I'll take any relief we can get in the meantime!

Newt Gingrich, one of the architects of the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less movement says the following:

Think about this: In order to block a vote on energy for America, Nancy Pelosi tried to cut off power to the House of Representatives. But Boehner and pro-energy representatives remembered where power really comes from.

Rep. John Boehner and many other pro-energy representatives have refused to allow Nancy Pelosi to duck the energy issue. They know that Congress derives its power from the American people. Speaker Pelosi can't order that power supply shut off.

They're still in Washington this week, making speeches on the House floor to visitors and press, and live-blogging their efforts.

Here's a flavor of the House Republicans historic uprising:

    "We are the light of the world, we are the leaders of the free world. But when we depend on foreign energy we cannot be as strong of a leader as we should and can be." - Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)

    "You need to let your congressman know that he or she works for you, not the Speaker of the House." - Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL)

    "Here's a letter from the Gardner family in Texas. They can't afford to both go on vacation and send their son to Boy Scout camp. They can't afford it. If the Gardners can't, then neither should Pelosi and the Congress!" - Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)

    "Common sense is not very common in Washington, D.C... Why aren't we using all the resources that we Americans can bring to the table?... We need to use our American ingenuity to solve these problems...We will get it done if there's a vote on this floor." - Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA):

And perhaps most importantly, House Minority Leader John Boehner yesterday promised to keep up this pressure throughout the month of August:

    "The only way we're ever going to bring her to heel and allow a vote is for us to continue to put pressure on her. And so it's 25 Members we had in Congress today, led by Tom Price and Mike Pence. It's Members all over the country doing their townhall meetings, doing their rotary clubs, they're all talking about it. And we're going to keep talking about it until we get our vote." - John Boehner, OH

Gingrich also points out that the Democrats' anti-energy plan doesn't pass Einstein's insanity test:

Someone should remind [Pelosi and MoveOn.org] that Einstein's definition of insanity was "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."

Not only does MoveOn.org still think that the Left's same, misguided energy scarcity policies are good for America, despite the obvious; they also think that the American people are going to continue to buy their arguments.

That's just crazy, and you don't have to be a Nobel Prize winning physicist to know it.

One other little fact that could be at play here: Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO posts the following from a Gallup poll:

In a year when approval of Congress has reached a new low, just 36% of U.S. registered voters say most members of Congress deserve re-election…Gallup has found ratings in the neighborhood of the current 36% in three other election years — 1992, 1994, and 2006. All of these years brought about significant change in the membership of Congress.

This would be a shock of epidemic proportions to the Democrat party.  They've been assuming a landslide victory in 2008 for the past two and a half years, so a McCain win and pickups by the GOP are as unthinkable as complementing President Bush.

The real point is that such immense public pressure is having an effect on even the most steadfast Democrats, like Pelosi.  The outrage being showered upon her after man-handling the House into vacation -- and Reid, doing the same in the Senate -- rather than deal with the energy crisis has apparently prompted her to privately notify Democrats that they can now support increased drilling.  This doesn't mean she'll give in on the vote, of course...she represents one of the most virulently hardcore environmentalist wacko districts in the country (San Francisco), so her seat is almost certainly safe.  She may be playing a game in allowing her minions to support drilling while she continues blocking any and all votes on the matter.  Still, the cloud is darkening, and if enough people hammer away hard enough, the rain may burst forth, showering us all with some welcome relief.

Keep calling and e-mailing, supporting your GOPers who are fighting the battle, and nagging Pelosi and the other Dems to allow a vote.  It's your money at stake, and you should be willing to fight for it.

There's my two cents.