ENERGY BILL BUZZ

Groucho Marx: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it and then misapplying the wrong remedies.”

It would seem from this report that Senator Reid and the Democrats have mastered the 1st 2 levels of Groucho’s formulation: By taking on the Big Ideas like improved auto mileage standards and a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), they have looked for trouble and found it.

Given the competing special interests at work within the party and from the other side of the aisle, there is every likelihood they will master the art as Groucho described it but right now they are keeping their plans quiet. Or maybe they don’t have plans yet. Read on.

Dems drafting energy bill in secret, too
Jeanne Cummings, October 29, 2007 (Politico)

WHO
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), influential Senate and House Democrats, Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Democratic and Republican lobbyists

Halfway down the column on the right there is a set of steps that in the normal course of events would be associated with the conference committee process. That ain't happenin'...(click to enlarge)

WHAT
Because Senate Republicans are blocking a conference committee to settle important differences in the House and Senate versions of the energy bill, Reid, Pelosi and a few senior Senators and Congressmen will choose the elements of the legislation put before both houses to be sent to the president.

WHEN
- Both Reid and Pelosi have promised legislation before the end of the year.
- The controversy over auto mileage standards, the national Renewable Electricity Standard, tax credit extensions and other energy bill elements is so great that decisions will only be made about them by senior leadershiop at the 11th hour.

WHERE
- Cummings reports on 2 specifics of the energy legislation:
(1) Automakers and autoworkers have serious objections to how the mileage standards are calculated and what vehicles they include.
(2) The nuclear lobby wants huge loan guarantees for new plants. Wall Street doesn’t want to take that financial risk but wants new nuclear and more electricity. Budget hounds resent the potential financial burden to taxpayers but will not fund New Energy. Environmental lobbyists say nuclear is unsafe.
- On these and many other issues, Reid is counting votes.

WHY
- Democrats are split. The powerful Dingell so opposes mileage standards other Democrats want that he is being excluded from negotiations.
- Reaching a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority is so difficult that hope for legislation satisfying to the “green” elements of the Democratic base is unlikely. The leaders now seek a victory of sorts by passing something to avoid being labeled “do-nothing.”.
- Accordingly, Republican lobbyists are working simply to split away enough democratic votes to prevent Reid’s efforts at filibuster-proofing.

Every time this photo turns up Reid seems just a little bit more forlorn and Pelosi seems a little bit angrier. Maybe it's not the photo. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Jeanne Cummings, veteran D.C. reporter and panelist on PBS’ “Washington Week”: “For Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), managing his own caucus is like playing with a Rubik’s Cube, with each advance carefully calibrated to limit simultaneous losses. That helps explain why crafting the final version of a bill with billions at stake for a wide swath of industries is shrouded in secrecy…”
- Cummings: “The Senate leader is well-aware of his challenge and is already vetting each plank on a votes gained/lost basis before signing off on the bill’s inclusions. It’s a painstaking process and one that certainly won’t produce the Crayola green bill that Pelosi and the party’s environmental backers had hoped to see…”