Senate Republicans Block Gas Price Reduction And Housing Crisis Measures-- Right-wing Ideology Trumps Common Sense (Again)

Lunsford & McConnell: different eating habits/similar energy policies

Only 13 Republican senators voted against the bill that would allow the federal government to keep hundreds of thousands of American families from being kicked out of their homes by foreclosures. The voted succeeded, 80-13. So who were these radical right extremists who would rather see millions of Americans made homeless than compromise on their discredited and dangerous ideology? Well, most of the Republican rubber stamps who are up for re-election in November were the first to jump ship and scurry across the aisle and vote with the Democrats. But not all did. Among the 13 are 4 die-hard nut cases who do have to face the voters in November but just do not care what their constituents think. As far as these guys are concerned Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter will tell their constituents what to think and that's that. The four are:

John Barrasso (R-WY)
Mike Enzi (R-WY)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
John Sununu (R-NH)

The other extremists who voted with them are Kit Bond (R-MO), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bob Corker (R-TN), Jim DeMint (R-SC), John Ensign (R-NV), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), John Thune (R-SD) and David Diapers Vitter (R-LA).

Earlier in the day, the Republican radicals were able to stop a bipartisan plan to keep excessive oil speculation from driving up gasoline prices by manipulating the futures markets. Every Democrat plus Lieberman and the one actual moderate Republican in the Senate, Olympia Snowe, voted to stop manipulative speculation while 43 Republicans voted, in effect, for higher gas prices at the pump, including fake moderates like Maine's other senator, Susan Collins, as well as Norm Coleman, and John Sununu. The DSCC targeted Republican closet queen/Bush chief Senate obstructionist Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has taken $230,900 in "donations" from Big Oil and Gas this year alone.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voted against a bill today to lower gas prices by curbing excessive speculation in energy markets. Experts have noted that speculation is driving up the price of a barrel of oil, and a recent House committee report revealed that speculators-- institutional investors buying contracts with no intention of taking delivery of oil-- now account for 73% of all trading of crude oil contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up from 37% in 2000.

"Mitch McConnell had an opportunity to lower the price of gas today, but instead he voted with the speculators who are profiting from Kentuckians' pain at the pump," DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. "Mitch McConnell's constituents deserve better than a politician who sides with Wall Street speculators over Kentucky families."

McConnell voted against legislation to guard against price manipulation just one day after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced its first case against a trading fund in the agency's probe of crude oil market manipulation. The bill will eliminate so-called "dark markets" to increase transparency and accountability in commodities trading, strengthen the CFTC's enforcement capacity, and close the "London Loophole" so all U.S.-based trading of American commodities is subject to American regulation.

Speculation is driving rising oil prices past where they should be, even with flat supply and rising demand. Economists and energy experts believe that speculation is helping drive the sudden spike in oil prices, which rose more than 50% between February and June.

Unfortunately for Kentucky Democrats, McConnell's opponent, conservative multimillionaire Bruce Lunsford is from the far right end of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party and advocates many of the same tired and discredited policies advocated by McConnell and the GOP. He was the lizard-brained choice of Chuck Schumer and that choice was based on his millions, not on his policy positions. Today's Lexington Herald-Leader:

To lure voters weary of high gas prices, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford is embracing a GOP-led push for oil shale drilling, one policy goal Congress already achieved and one proposal that received mixed reviews from both parties.

...McConnell is running television ads highlighting the fact that Lunsford pushed for automatic state gas tax increases as an aide to Democratic Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. in the early 1980s.

One of Lunsford's key proposals is to create a federal gas tax holiday, which would remove the 18.5-cent levy from the cost of each gallon. Republican presidential candidate John McCain and former Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton support the idea.

But presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama and others have dismissed it as a political ploy, saying it would do little to ease prices while taking away needed federal money to repair and build roads.

”I see this as an immediate relief for people who have this noose around their necks,“ Lunsford said. ”If people were out there and could see this, they'd understand how tight it is for people right now.“

Lunsford also reiterated his support for lifting a moratorium on drilling for oil shale in Western states, something that McConnell and Republicans are pushing.

Schumer has successfully saddled the Kentucky Democratic Party with a candidate who is re-inforcing Mitch McConnell's and John McCain's reactionary perspective on energy. But what could you expect from the reptilian Schumer? He also saddled America with the current Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, although he claims to be "disappointed" now.