The Gang Of Ten

I mentioned this in a post earlier today, but the topic was big enough to warrant its own post. As you know, the Republican party (along with McCain) has actually been showing a spine for a change, and seems to have drawn a line in the sand regarding energy legislation. The House GOP continues to meet and promote their bill to tourists in the House gallery, and is gaining steam as the polls show anywhere between 60-80% of Americans want more drilling to deal with gas prices, but Pelosi, Reid, and the Democrats decided a vacation was more important.

In one of the biggest (and most disappointing) examples of abject stupidity I've ever seen, five Republican Senators have partnered with five Democrat Senators to form the 'Gang of Ten', which threatens to derail all of the momentum the GOP has gained over the past two weeks.

The story was initially broken by Kimberley Strassel in the Wall Street Journal:

Politics has its puzzling moments. John McCain and most of the GOP experienced one late last week. That was when five of their own set about dismantling the best issue Republicans have in the upcoming election.

It's taken time, but Sen. McCain and his party have finally found -- in energy -- an issue that's working for them. Riding voter discontent over high gas prices, the GOP has made antidrilling Democrats this summer's

Their enthusiasm has given conservative candidates a boost in tough races. And Mr. McCain has pressured Barack Obama into an energy debate, where the Democrat has struggled to explain shifting and confused policy proposals.

Still, it was probably too much to assume every Republican would work out that their side was winning this issue. And so, last Friday, in stumbled Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Bob Corker and Johnny Isakson -- alongside five Senate Democrats. This "Gang of 10" announced a "sweeping" and "bipartisan" energy plan to break Washington's energy "stalemate." What they did was throw every vulnerable Democrat, and Mr. Obama, a life preserver.

That's because the plan is a Democratic giveaway. New production on offshore federal lands is left to state legislatures, and then in only four coastal states. The regulatory hurdles are huge. And the bill bars drilling within 50 miles of the coast -- putting off limits some of the most productive areas. Alaska's oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still a no-go.

The highlight is instead $84 billion in tax credits, subsidies and federal handouts for alternative fuels and renewables. The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on . . . oil companies! The Sierra Club couldn't have penned it better. And so the Republican Five has potentially given antidrilling Democrats the political cover they need to neutralize energy through November.

She goes on to share that Obama and several Democrats who were facing the realistic possibility of losing their Senate seats primarily because of this issue immediately jumped on the Gang of 10, praising their bipartisanship and loudly touting their efforts. Similarly, several Republicans running against weak Democrat incumbents were riding a swell of support on the issue. Here's the key of the issue:

The "bipartisan" Republican senators have undercut these efforts.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [had] been struggling to tamp down the energy debate through November, where he hopes to increase his majority and permanently shelve drilling. He's now counting on the Gang to fruitlessly continue "negotiations" straight through the Senate's short September session and solve his problem for him.

Not one of the five Republicans in the Gang is facing a tough election this year. That's the sort of security that leads to bad decisions. And theirs is the sort of thinking that could leave Republicans in a permanent minority.

This is key. Regardless of what you think about the Democrat party, their leaders have always been effective in keeping the party in lock step on most issues. No such luck in the Republican party, where any break from the GOP line brings loud praise from the MSM in the name of 'bipartisanship'. Remember what I said about bipartisanship? It's overrated because our side always ends up compromising and losing, anyway. This would be another example of such 'bipartisanship' - a handful of total idiots are undercutting a guaranteed winning issue that the Democrats have handed over, simply because they're thinking like a permanent minority in saving their own seats rather than fighting for a party win and an actual victory on the issue itself.

In reality, they're giving the Democrats exactly what they want (a windfall profits tax on oil companies and extremely tight restrictions on drilling, including giving groups like the ACLU and the Sierra Club veto power over drilling applications), in addition to a way out of their current election noose.

The Institute for Energy Research agrees with those of us on the right, saying that the Gang of 10's proposals would be a very bad idea.

Rush Limbaugh dedicated a considerable amount of time to the topic on his Friday show, including an interview with one of the idiotic five Reps, Saxby Chambliss. It was clearly a fruitless interview, as Chambliss believes that bipartisanship is the way to go, despite what Americans want. Some of his closing comments:

Yeah, this did catch McCain by surprise, because it put him in a very ironic situation. McCain has made his bones being the bipartisan guy, working with the other guys, so here's [Senator Lindsey Graham] Grahamnesty (who is McCain, Jr.) and I think he sees this is how McCain got to be who he is. So Grahamnesty says, "Okay, I'll try it."

So McCain, the only way he could oppose this, is, "I'm not for tax increases, and there are too many tax increases in this bill. That's not the way." But it just took the issue away.

By the way, another explanation. I left off the most important thing to look at. Folks, I can't explain it. You can make up whatever explanation you want. They're stupid; they want good coverage in the media, whatever it is. Follow the money. Follow the money. Well, in this case, follow the money. Use your imagination, campaign contributions, lobbyists. They're not up for election this year. They don't face serious opposition. The answer to almost every question, particularly in politics, can be found at the end of the trail of big bucks.

Limbaugh cautions that all is not lost - this is just five Senators who've gone off the reservation, but the problem is that those who want to delay now have the potential for making that delay happen. And, the Gang of 10 could erode the support of what the Reps in the House are successfully trying to do. And, it is evident that the phones of those five Republican Senators are burning up with angry calls.

So, where does that leave us? The bottom line is that those in the GOP who are still hammering away at getting a vote on increased energy production are dead on. They need your support, more than ever now. Continue calling your Rep and encouraging him/her to put pressure on Pelosi to allow the vote on the Republican all-of-the-above bill. Call Pelosi's office and ask her why she is afraid to allow the vote if she's really interested in taking care of the American people - urge her to allow the vote.

Then, call your Senators and tell them to dump the Gang of 10. If they're Republican, tell them that they need to oppose it because of the huge tax increase they'll stick on the American people (because a tax on the oil companies will be passed right along to us consumers), and because their stupid idea only gives the Democrats cover to stall for the election. Remind them that as much as 80% of the American people want more drilling, and that this is an issue that the Democrats will lose in November...unless the GOP decides to follow the Gang of 10.

If that happens, and if the GOP can't win on this issue, they are done.

There's my two cents.