Yes, I admit, it is a stunt.  But it is a brilliant one.  Here is the situation:

Last week the House adjourned for the 5 week summer break.  Republicans were trying to force a vote on the oil drilling issue and on energy in general.  The Democrats, lead by Speaker Pelosi would have none of it, and they voted to adjourn anyway.

So the Republicans didn’t.  They refused to leave and ended up essentially performing a sit in protest.

Pelosi not to be deterred, ordered the lights turned out, and when that didn’t deter them, she ordered the capital police to clear the House.

As Hot Air noted:

A transparent stunt but an awfully shrewd one. The cameras are off so we’re forced to rely on Politico for running updates. What a scene:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House and turned off the lights 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…

“This is the people’s House,” Rep, Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said. “This is not Pelosi’s politiburo.”

It’s brilliant.  Bloody brilliant.  

As I said early, yes, this is a stunt.  This is clearly the Republicans taking advantage of the inaction of the Democrats.  Of course it is.  And were the situations reversed, the Democrats would do the same thing.  The fact is that both political parties would glad take an opportunity like this to throw the other under the bus.  That is the reality of politics.

The fact is that politics is dirty.   And both parties are masters.

But there is no doubt that the Republicans have the moral high ground as expanding drilling or at least trying to do something proactive about the oil prices is highly attractive to the general population.

And it should be.  This is clearly a no brainer situation.

The facts are simple.  We are too dependent on foreign oil, where we import more then we produce.  Leave OPEC out of it, we get almost as much from non OPEC countries like Canada and Mexico as we do from the evil OPEC producers.

I don’t care which countries we import from, the fact is that if we import more then we produce, we are at the mercy of the people we import it from.

Granted there is more at issue then who we buy from.  The fact we buy Gasoline refined in Canada instead of refining it ourselves is also a concern, and it should be dealt with too.

We have the ability and resources to do it ourselves, we need to become more self sufficient.

The real obstacle to our progress here is not the oil companies, nor is it OPEC.  It is the US government, and all the obstacles and bureaucratic hindrances we place in front of new oil drilling and new refineries.   If our government is actually invested in the best welfare of our Nation, they would look into all the possibilities.

They don’t.  Many of them see only one choice.

They only to want to ease our reliance on oil by expanding research into alternative fuels, such as solar and ethanol.  They see our reliance on oil itself as the problem not just who we are dependent on.  They want to end the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible, regardless of the cost.  This is the only acceptable solution

Some instead see many opportunities and choices.  They want to increase drilling to increase our domestic production, and a corresponding increase in our refining capability as well.  They reason that fossil fuels are an essential element to our social fabric, and that despite the desires to end our overall reliance, we will continue to need them for decades to come, acknowledging that fossil fuels.

They are right.  Our society relies on petroleum far to heavily to discard it quickly.

The Liberal demagogues would have you believe that this is a one solution problem, and that the Republicans are drill happy with no other acceptable options but that is terrible incorrect.

Republicans see this as a multilevel approach type of problem.

Sure, increasing production lowers external reliance, but the truth is that Democrats are right, reliance on oil is part of the problem.

Where the Democrats fall short is their assumption we need to end all use of fossil fuels completely.  We don’t.

We can make them cleaner and reduce their use gradually while new technology is introduced.

The real flaw in the argument that Pelosi and her ilk use is that the technology to end the reliance on fossil fuels exists now, and that we can just switch.

We can’t.

Someday, we might.  But presently there is no reliable alternative that actually provides our needs.

That means we need obviously need to support more research, something anyone in their right mind can see.

But equally obvious we need to come up with immediate solutions as well as long term.

The Democrats like Pelosi, who is more concerned with her book tour than she is with solving problems, refuse to do anything, because doing nothing provides their base with warm fuzzies that she is on their page with their environmental nannyism. 

In fact, all they are doing is alienating the people they claim  are there core people, the low and middle income Americans.

You see, the Average Joe feels the heat of the high prices a whole lot more than the Latte Liberals like Pelosi.  She won’t suffer with the high prices, she can afford it, and she can afford the 10 dollar gallon gas that some Democrats are hoping for.

The Average Joe has seen their transportation prices nearly double under Democratic leadership, and they are pissed.  The sweeping out of Republicans in 2006 did nothing to make their lives better, it has resulted in just the opposite.

Granted, I cannot necessarily blame the Democrats for the increases, but I can blame them for inaction, and the lowly ratings for congressional approval mean that the average person seems to agree.

That is the reality that the Republicans are tapping in to.  They see the unhappiness and the see something they can bring resonance to.

The revolt in the House of Representatives is kind of like the Boston tea party.  It solves nothing, it will result in nothing, but it clearly is popular and makes the other side look foolish, and it sends a clear message.

It may be a stunt or an opportunity, but it is a very effective one, and they are doing the right thing regardless.

 Trackposted to Hot Air, Perri Nelson’s Website, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Right Truth, Shadowscope, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, Political Byline, third world county, Allie is Wired, DragonLady’s World, , The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, , and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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