|
Dear Editors: I agree with your recent editorial decrying the demise of the energy bill in the U.S. Senate (“Spreading Our Sources Of Energy”, December 11, 2007).
But if blame is to be properly placed, it should land on President Bush, who threatened to veto the bill, and on Republican Senators, the vast majority of whom opposed the bill. The vote on the bill was actually 53-42 in favor, but because of arcane Senate rules 60 votes are needed to cutoff debate. Democrats have only 51 votes in the Senate, so they need the support of at least 9 Republicans to move most legislation. The failure of this bill clearly lies with President Bush, the 39 Republican Senators who voted against the legislation, and the 5 others who missed the vote but were on record opposing the bill.
The bill had the support of environmentalists and consumer groups, to be sure. But it also had the support of the auto industry, even though the bill contained an increase in the miles-per-gallon standard the industry has so long opposed. Unfortunately, the oil industry couldn’t support anything that threatened its taxpayer subsidies, subsidies that even President Bush noted in 2005 were unnecessary “when oil is $50 a barrel.” That, apparently, was enough to kill the bill.
Sadly, the energy bill isn’t the only victim of continued obstructionism by President Bush and his supporters in the House and Senate. We’re seeing this same unwillingness to compromise on finishing the federal budget for next year. The ongoing dispute over the budget has jeopardized funding for a number of important domestic priorities -- like veteran’s health care, education, and border and port security -- that have bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. It also threatens funding to fix the Santa Maria levees that Senator Feinstein and I worked to include in the budget bill.
The problem is that President Bush refuses to negotiate seriously with Congress about how much the federal government should spend and on what. Just this weekend the White House abruptly announced the President would veto a proposal from Congress – which split the difference in funding amount between the Democratic budget and the President’s budget – without even laying eyes on the proposal! The President’s claim that he’s being fiscally responsible is a little hard to believe, given that his Administration has run up a record $3 trillion increase in the National Debt while failing to veto a single spending bill passed by Republican controlled Congresses. Furthermore, the President’s new commitment to fiscal responsibility apparently doesn’t apply to spending on Iraq since he’s asked for nearly $200 billion dollars this year alone to fund the war, and not even bothered to offset this additional spending.
Compromise is a two way street and the essence of responsible governing, but that seems lost on President Bush and his supporters on Capitol Hill. When common sense legislation like the energy bill fails, or when important priorities like fixing the Santa Maria levees are threatened, it hurts all Americans. I hope that this holiday season will soon bring about a change in heart in the White House.
Sincerely,
Lois Capps
Member of Congress, 23rd Congressional District
Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
|
