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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Democrat mutiny on climate bill grows |
| 2009-06-11 |
| More and more Democrats are ready to vote against Speaker Nancy Pelosi's climate change bill, according to a congressional committee chairman who opposes his leader. So call your Dem congresscritter and put the pressure on! The House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said Wednesday that he's at an impasse with the lead sponsor of a climate change bill strongly backed by Pelosi ( Good! Keep it up, boyz. "We're stuck," Peterson said regarding a clash he's had with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) over a number of issues in the bill. "And there's a lot of issues that haven't even come up yet." The two powerful chairmen are butting heads at the staff level, despite a deadline set by Pelosi for all committee action to be completed by June 19. But that may be the least of the trouble. Peterson has warned that the bill put together by Waxman and Energy and Environment subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) will fail if agriculture-related provisions aren't altered, and he's said he has as many as 45 votes on his side. That number of Democratic defections would certainly doom the prospects of passing the bill in the House. Doom away. And while the Agriculture chairman said he's working to resolve those differences and not intentionally trying to torpedo the legislation, he noted that skepticism toward the bill is growing, not shrinking. You mean some of Congress is getting a clue? Trouble emerged before the Memorial Day recess when Peterson and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) objected to Waxman moving the bill only through his committee. The two chairmen insisted they have a chance to mark up the bill, or at least see that changes were made. Peterson threatened to have enough votes to kill the bill if he didn't get satisfaction, while Rangel said he wanted to focus on healthcare first Howzabout for NEVER. For both bills. |
| Posted by:Barbara Skolaut |
| #1 “The House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said Wednesday that he's at an impasse…” Rep. Peterson (D-Minn.) has traditionally been a loyal Dem. foot soldier. But there is no way he’s going to support the Climate change boondoggle. The way it’s written agricultural states will get screwed. He also represents a state that depends heavily on that icky coal energy. It’s hard to imagine Pelosi can pay him off enough to bend over for that kind of double penetration. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2009-06-11 18:40 |