For the Democrats, the damn Hawaii contingent continued its efforts to declare Hawaii and Alaska as ‘special’. And Landrieu, who everyone should have undertood would vote for this, backed drilling.
In fact, Holy Joe decided to blast her when her position has been consistent for years. She played a smart move to get revenue shairing for coastal protection in Louisiana, but no one expected her to move off her previous votes for drilling. Holy Joe took a swipe at her anyway. I think she is wrong, but I also think Durbin is wrong on ethanol. I don’t have to run for office in Illinois and that’s the difference.
As senators were voting on Wednesday, Ms. Landrieu stood at the back of the chamber, talking to colleagues on both sides of the aisle with a conflicted look on her face. At one point, moments before she cast her vote, she tapped Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat who opposes drilling, on the arm and whispered to him. He said later that she told him she would be supporting drilling.
“I was disappointed,” Mr. Lieberman said. “I feel it personally.”
Hey Joe–you couldn’t have pointed out Specter’s vote? Or Santorum who is running in a swing state? Or Talent? Or Martinez?
No, you had to complain about the Democrat who has been consistent. As wrong as she is, you couldn’t help the Party out, but instead had to take pressure off Republicans who should have been held to account?
My frustration with Lieberman and Al From of the DLC isn’t ideological. I used to describe myself as a DLC kind of guy meaning I believed in free trade, market incentives in regulation and a respect for more traditional values than many in the Party argue.
My frustration with them and others is that they are happy to sell out Democrats as being imperfect, but don’t seem to take the time to argue that Republican policies are the real problem.
If Lieberman had taken the time to argue that the Republican Party was the problem and then made a small point about Landrieu, I could live with that. Instead he gave the Paper of Record the quote to define the issue for the next couple years.
That being said, the seven Republicans who didn’t vote for a giant giveaway to relatively small corporate interests deserve credit”
-Chafee, R.I.;
-Coleman, Minn.;
-Collins, Maine;
-DeWine, Ohio;
-McCain, Ariz.;
-Smith, Ore.;
-Snowe, Maine.
Coleman waffled previously ‘if he was the deciding vote’, but the other six have been strong opponents and deserve credit. DeWine and Smith usually are ignored, but have been very consistent and deserve more widespread credit.
Prof. Bill Lowry at WashU in his class yesterday showed that Hawaii relies on oil – mostly imported – for 95% or so of its energy needs. That may have something to do with how Akaka and Inouye voted on ANWR.
No, they have a pact with the Alaska Senators where when they have special legislation they go along with one another. McCain has complained about it repeatedly and this isn’t the only issue for which it occurs.
But more to the point, it won’t affect the price of oil so Akaka an Inouye would not be helping anything with such a vote.
The Passion of the Joe
Joe Lieberman finally came down on the right side of something — he voted against drilling in Alaska. But like a drunken frat boy swaying on the balcony, he just can’t pass up the chance to piss on his own party. When Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has…
I don’t think you can say this comes down to small corporate interests. This was done to provide fuel to the whole country in the face of increasing need. There is a lot more at play here than that.
Napablogger, if you read another post further down you might notice the one that points out exactly why opening ANWR will not provide enough oil to affect the price nor supply of oil.
ANWR’s peak production is less than seasonal changes made by OPEC and frankly can be completely mitigated by a reduction in Saudi output.
As one who lives in Hawai’i, I have some insight to the Akaka and Inouye votes. There’s a very vocal Hawaiian minority out here, and Akaka has a rights bill pending in the Senate. He may be playing a quid-pro-quo game. As to Inouye, his quoted line on the floor was “229 of 230 native tribes support this (drilling).” I dispute that count, but I don’t have a vote in the Senate. Also, as you said, Inouye and Stevens are quite good friends who do tend to support one another’s legislation.