Liberal House Democrats are shifting their political tactics on climate change after failing to secure a public option in the new healthcare reform law.
The move comes in the wake of liberals having to walk back threats that they would vote against a healthcare bill without a government-run program.
“Drawing the line in the sand too quickly was part of the lesson we learned on healthcare,” the co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), told The Hill.
Grijalva voiced strong concerns about the direction of the climate and energy bill, which has moved toward the center as Democrats try to build a bipartisan consensus that can win 60 Senate votes. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are leading the effort in the upper chamber to pass a comprehensive bill.
A cap-and-trade program, which was included in the House bill that passed last year, is likely to be jettisoned, and President Barack Obama disappointed liberals last week by announcing his support for expanding offshore oil drilling. The president’s decision was seen as a move to garner the support of conservative Democrats and Republicans who would be open to voting for a comprehensive climate and energy measure.
To read more click here: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/90905-house-liberals-shift-climate-tactics
May 6, 2010 at 1:39 am |
Columnist Russell Berman is delusional if he thinks that the climate bill has moved towards the center. If his opinion that Joe Lieberman (I) and Lindsey Graham (R) are part of a conservative movement that’s moving the cap and trade bill to the middle, he is gravely mistaken. Obama’s support for off shore drilling is also a fallacy. This administration and a left of center congress is anti-coal, anti-oil and anti-electric. Their vision is a utopian green world that is unattainable, pie in the sky and very costly. It’s time to wake up America. Bipartisan support is not the Democrats picking off a couple of Progressive Republicans to pass a bill that would put the final nail in the coal industry.