- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
I asked in comments on Friday if anyone had seen the debate on the House floor on this bill. It was, for once, great political theater. The so-called Clean Energy Act is one of the worst pieces of legislation (non-military that is) to come through congress in many a moon.
It's a real jolt when there's an actual debate on the Hill. I've grown so accustomed to "bipartisanship" that it's refreshing to see both sides argue their position passionately. What we had during the Bush II years was one vote after the next passing by wide margins, mainly because of the compliant, capitulating Democratic caucus.But when the Republicans are in the minority, they suddenly find their voice. Yesterday, they won the debate on the House floor hands-down, but lost the final vote because 8 Republican lawmakers joined with the Democrats.
I used to despise John Boehner during the two terms of Bush, but yesterday in closing the debate for the minority, he was magnificent. His thorough dismantling of the 300 page amendment the Dems tacked on to the underlying bill at 3am that same morning was a tour de force.
The most interesting part of the debate involved several pretty cleverly worded parliamentary inquiries from Joe Barton (R-Tex), not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but again, here he was brilliant. The Dems were very clearly trying to get the amendment tacked onto the main bill without giving the opposition time to read its contents. At one point, the minority kept asking where they could locate a physical copy of the amendment and were stonewalled by Madame Speaker, until she finally had a house clerk make it available.
The Clean Energy Act 2009 is a detestable bill that adds huge layers of bureaucracy to our already bloated govt. To see part 6 of 6 of Boehner's closing remarks, click signature. Around the 7 minute mark Boehner sounds like an old-time populist. Great stuff.
