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Urging drilling, House GOP members refuse to leave floor for recess
RAW STORY
Friday, Aug 1, 2008
In a dramatic protest aimed at urging Congress to vote to drill for more oil within the US, House Republicans are refusing to leave the House floor despite a vote to adjourn the chamber early Friday afternoon.
Politico reports:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House and turned off the light and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi’s refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m. and are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess.
At one point, the lights went off in the House and the microphones were turned off in the chamber, meaning Republicans were talking in the dark. But as Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz..) was speaking, the lights went back on, and the microphones have been turned on as well.
(Article continues below)
“Madame Speaker, Where art thou?’’ Rep. Ted Poe , R-Texas, shouted from the well of the House, according to CQ. “This room is vacant of most members of Congress. Where, oh where, has Congress gone?” he yelled to about a dozen other Republicans, the tourists in the gallery, some House pages, and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, the lone Democrat who witnessed the unusual proceeding.
Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) is providing updates on the protest via Twitter and video-streaming service QIK.
“This is a historic first – conservatives will not go quietly home and neglect our duty to vote to bring down energy prices,” he writes.
Liberal activists are responding to the GOP protest with implications that Republican members are simply shilling for contributors in the oil companies.
“Good to see you’re putting in overtime for the $300,000 you received from the oil & gas industry,” said one response to Culberson.
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt sent out the following message to colleagues, according to Politico:
“Although, this Democrat Majority just Adjourned for the Democrat 5-Week Vacation, House Republicans are continuing to fight on the House Floor. Although the lights, mics and C-SPAN camera’s have been turned off, House Republicans are on the Floor speaking to the tax payers in the gallery who, not surprisingly, agree with Republican Energy proposals.
All Republicans who are in town are encouraged to come to the House Floor.”
Conservative blog Redstate says 22 Republicans are participating in the protest.
A campaign finance watchdog echoed the sentiment that Friday’s pre-recess protest was simply a publicity stunt.
“As members of Congress pull a stunt today on the floor of the House regarding oil drilling, one day after Exxon Mobil’s record profits, Campaign Money Watch urges all voters and reporters to go to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics’ website, OpenSecrets.org, and review how much each member of Congress received from the oil and gas industry over their careers. These contributions from Big Oil, more than anything else, will tell you what you need to know about today’s circus,” said David Donnelly, Director of Campaign Money Watch.
Earlier this year, House Republicans dramatically walked off the floor in protest of a vote to hold two Bush administration figures in contempt for flouting Congressional subpoenas.
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11 Responses to “Urging drilling, House GOP members refuse to leave floor for recess”
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August 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pm
the video here http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=63e_1217602595
August 1st, 2008 at 12:30 pm
These barking idiots can sure cause a stink when it’s convenient for their buddies in the oil business,right? … but when the PATRIOT act zooms through they don’t even have the time to read it!
August 1st, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Ok, drilling offshore isn’t going to do anything but destroy the ocean environment even more. All of the refineries are operating at maximum capacity – they can’t process more oil. If the oil is drilled, it will just sit there. Anyway, the real reason for the high price of oil is the low value of the $USD. The answer is not drilling for more oil, but using alternatives that are already out there. What about Tesla’s technology???
August 1st, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Drill more so the Oil Companies can export more…No one benifits but the Oil Companies and Suck Asses like pelosi and the rest of the Congress Lap Dogs.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Lawyer theatrics … Just like real theatrics, except shallower, more expensive and far less entertaining.
August 1st, 2008 at 7:56 pm
There’s plenty of oil in the U.S. that they just refuse to use.
As Wakeup says…theatrics.
If this were The Gong Show they would be Gonged.
August 2nd, 2008 at 4:34 am
Refineries are NOT operating at maximum capacity (Simone). The oil companies restrict the supply of refined gasoline (and diesel) in order to exploit the law of supply and demand. They keep the supply just below the level of demand in order to keep upwards pressure on prices.
While it is true that value of the dollar has dropped it has not dropped enough to explain current fuel prices. The oil companies are running a scam. Here is how it works. There are giant fuel storage tanks at the points of distribution where refined gasoline is stored. All of the oil companies co-mingle their refined gasoline in these tanks. There is a computer system to keep up with how much each company has in the tanks. But that is not all it keeps up with. It also keeps up with how much each company has in the pipeline, in their refineries, and how much they are projected to produce in the future. Each company has FULL access to the computer system so they know not only how much fuel they have and expect to have but also how much each of the other companies has and expects to have. There are no secrets between the oil companies. They act as a virtual monopoly. Technically the correct term is “oligopoly” which means that there are so few competitors that when any one makes a change it effects the entire market. All the companies work together to manipulate the price of refined gasoline and diesel.
If the oil companies cared about providing a stable supply (and stable prices) to us here in the U.S. they would fill these giant storage tanks during the off season so that any minor glitches in production during the busy season (summer) would not cause distribution problems and price fluctuations. Instead the oil companies do just the opposite (thanks to removal of regulations in the Reagan years requiring them to keep a sufficient supply on hand). During the off season they work very hard to DRAIN the storage tanks. If the level of fuel is not as low as they want it to be by the beginning of the busy season they simpy put the refined fuel on ships and ship it off to other countries. By the time the busy summer driving season starts the storage tanks are very low. At this point any small glitch anywhere in the refining and distrubution process can cause a shortage. If there are no naturally occuring glitches then they can simply shutdown some refineries for “unschedule maintenance” or some other nonesensical excuse. By keeping the supply just below the demand upwards pressure on prices is maintained. The guy who sets the wholesale price of fuel does not care what the price of oil is. He simply sets the price at the highest point which will not cause demand to drop.
Some good information can be found at http://www.oilwatchdog.com.
August 2nd, 2008 at 4:47 am
Dr. Jason Dodson is a Freemason cultist, fascist, and disinformation agent who trolls this website and reports bloggers to the National Security Administration.
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:42 am
Just another SCAM BY THE OIL COMPANIES!
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Definitely the story of the week was the astounding revelation of
of senior Nasa official Clark McClelland.
McClelland supported astronaut Ed Mitchell’s claim that the military was interacting with alien races.
McClelland revealed that he saw an 8 to 9 alien in the shuttle docking bay on his moniter during a classified shuttle mission.
He also witnessed a UFO locked in a stationary orbit with the shuttle.
You can find the link at;
http:///hismailroom.com
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
GOP wanted to solve the problem in a few hours or days which means they had something up their sleeve and Pelosi knew better that this problem cannot be solved overnight. If the GOP really cared they would raised the minimum wage 10 years ago when the Democrats 1st Introduce that bill!