GOP defeats Cantwell's amendment
Apparently the "Grand Old Party" is having a grand old time watching our dependence on foreign oil continue to grow, and grow, and...grow:
They're not for reducing our dependence on foreign oil. They're not into setting ambitious goals and moving forward. They prefer the status quo. They'll only go for goals that are easily attainable:
As for the failure of Cantwell's amendment - it's so easy to attack a plan as "too ambitious" and "harmful to the economy". These criticisms are entirely pathetic. It's the same old garbage from the same people who are stuck in the present and aren't thinking about the future: particularly, "champions" of the auto industry.
David Horsey of the Seattle P-I created an excellent cartoon last March entitled, "The whine of the automaker....a retrogression". The cartoon shows how Detroit has opposed, over the years, things we now take for granted: seat belts, catalytic converters, air bags, higher fuel efficiency standards, and so on.
Senator Cantwell should be congratulated for forcing the Republicans to show that, once again, their talk is all hollow. When it comes to moving this nation forward, Republicans are real chickens. They balk...they squawk...and problems in this country just continue to get worse.
WASHINGTON -- The Senate yesterday defeated a proposal by Sen. Maria Cantwell to put the nation on the path toward reducing its dependence on foreign oil supplies by 40 percent over the next 20 years.The result of the vote, of course, is not a surprise at all. But it was a useful vote because it allows the American people to see the Republicans' real agenda.
The measure, which Cantwell wanted to attach to the energy bill, was defeated 53-47 on a mostly party-line vote.
Cantwell, D-Wash., expressed disappointment with the outcome, noting that Democrats, Republicans and President Bush have all agreed that the nation should move to lessen its dependence on foreign supplies. The United States currently imports 58 percent of the 21 million barrels of oil it consumes every day.
"Unfortunately, the concern we've been hearing from the president and Republican leaders about America's dependence on foreign oil is just empty rhetoric," Cantwell said. "They had a chance to throw a strike for the economic and national security of our nation, and they balked."
They're not for reducing our dependence on foreign oil. They're not into setting ambitious goals and moving forward. They prefer the status quo. They'll only go for goals that are easily attainable:
The Senate, however, approved a rider by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that would require 10 percent of electricity produced by U.S. utilities be generated from renewable sources, such as wind or solar, by 2020.Only ten percent? It should be more like forty percent. There's real ambition for you. If Democrats ran the Senate, Senator Bingaman could have proposed a much higher percentage, and it would have passed - easily. Once again, this was an amendment introduced by a forward-thinking Democratic senator.
As for the failure of Cantwell's amendment - it's so easy to attack a plan as "too ambitious" and "harmful to the economy". These criticisms are entirely pathetic. It's the same old garbage from the same people who are stuck in the present and aren't thinking about the future: particularly, "champions" of the auto industry.
David Horsey of the Seattle P-I created an excellent cartoon last March entitled, "The whine of the automaker....a retrogression". The cartoon shows how Detroit has opposed, over the years, things we now take for granted: seat belts, catalytic converters, air bags, higher fuel efficiency standards, and so on.
Senator Cantwell should be congratulated for forcing the Republicans to show that, once again, their talk is all hollow. When it comes to moving this nation forward, Republicans are real chickens. They balk...they squawk...and problems in this country just continue to get worse.
