Senate Republicans block energy bill

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans blocked a broad energy bill Thursday because it included billions of dollars in new taxes on the biggest oil companies.


Supporters say the bill would move the country away from gas-guzzling cars and toward nonfossil fuels.

1 of 2 Democratic leaders fell one vote short, 59-40, in getting the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster. Democrats said they would strip the taxes from the legislation to move the bill forward.

Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he hoped to get the revised energy package approved later in the day, including the first increase in automobile fuel efficiency in three decades and massive increases in the use of ethanol as a motor fuel.

He said we will "eliminate the tax title."

Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky predicted the revised bill would be approved with wide bipartisan support.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/13/congress.energy.ap/index.html

[bdamomma]

1. Repigs are complete a$$holes.

Repigs keep saying nothing is getting done, but they are the ones who are obstructing these bills. What total a$$holes, what if Reid just closed down government???

[kysrsoze]

12. I don't understand why Reid doesn't shut it down. We did it before

I guess we're keeping our powder dry again.

[yourout]

2. Instead of nuckling under........fight for the one more vote you need.

I swear Reid and Co have not found a fight they are not willing to run from.

[Triana]

5. YES. WHY NOT JUST GET ONE MORE VOTE?!

Good GRIEF!

:wtf:
:mad:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. Goodness knows the oil companies shouldn't be taxed more

Everyone knows they're already forfeiting profits to help provide Americans with cheap gas. :sarcasm:

[FreeStateDemocrat]

4. Political theater, too many Democrats are corporate whores; it was a step-up. nt

[donkeyotay]

6. They weren't new taxes. It was removal of a tax break given that was supposed

to lower the cost of gas. Instead, they had record profits. It's almost like there was a weak link in the repo logic...:think: We should review for them: Corporations exist to make profits. Corporations charge what the market will bear. Corporate CEOs thank you for their tax windfall, and kick back a little for your reelection. Sheesh, even the American people will eventually catch on.

The rackets continue while the ice melts.

[MrBlueSky]

7. I think this is a wonderful idea!

The majority of the country approves of the original House version. So, if the Senate Republicans and the White House oppose the bill, then next year will be exceedingly bad for the Republicans. Perhaps even worse than 2006. We will welcome a Madam (or an African American) President and the Senate will likely have 55 or 56 Democrats.

[underpants]

9. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[Heywood J]

8. Christ.

Pull a Tom Delay on them, feed them a taste of their own medicine by refusing to gavel the vote until you can go around stumping for that one vote. Pull every trick they did on them, and watch them whine.

[Ian David]

10. The Repukes did NOT block anything. Harry Reid gave them an Imaginary Filibuster Power

If we want to un-block it, then make them use a REAL filibuster.

[cosmicdot]

11. Mary Landrieu

"Democratic leaders fell one vote short, 59-40, in getting the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, was the only Democrat to break ranks."

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Concur in the House

Amendment to the Senate Amendment with an Amendment to H.R. 6 )
Vote Number: 425 Vote Date: December 13, 2007, 09:54 AM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture Motion Rejected
Measure Number: H.R. 6 (Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 )
Measure Title: An Act to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles, to promote research on and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, and to improve the energy performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes.

Vote Counts:
YEAs 59
NAYs 40
Not Voting 1

YEAs ---59

Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Grassley (R-IA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---40

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA) <-----------
Lott (R-MS)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

Not Voting - 1

McCain (R-AZ)

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00425

[BruceW4yne]

13. UPDATE: Senate Passes Bill Increasing Fuel Economy Standards

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate passed a trimmed-back energy bill Thursday that would bring higher-gas mileage cars and SUVs into showrooms in the coming decade and fill their tanks with ethanol.

Supporters say the bill would move the country away from gas-guzzling cars and toward nonfossil fuels.

The measure was approved with strong bipartisan support 86-8 after Democrats abandoned efforts to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on the biggest oil companies, unable by one vote to overcome a Republican filibuster against the new taxes."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/13/congress.energy.ap/index.html

Half a loaf is better than none. ;)