Senate Democrats Cooling To Warming

If Congress even manages to produce an energy bill it will be scaled back.

WASHINGTON — President Obama and Senate Democrats have decided to press ahead in the next two weeks with a scaled-back energy bill that limits carbon pollution by power plants but not by other industries in an effort to salvage the legislation before midterm elections.

That ought to put them in the sweet spot where they simultaneously frustrate their supporters and galvanize their opponents.  Full speed ahead!

Comments

[Parking Lot]

((That ought to put them in the sweet spot where they simultaneously frustrate their supporters and galvanize their opponents. Full speed ahead!))

those sentences were done to a turn

[Clarice]

Ditto!

Captain, My Captain.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

limits carbon pollution by power plants

Maybe GE can get its money back?

[Captain Hate]

How can non-nuke power plants not have carbon emissions? Does the DOE have an alchemy division?

[narciso the harpoon]

I'm no 'rocket surgeon' a Schmittism from our
splungey radio follow on to Rush, but that's what I was thinking too

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 17 at Raz today.

[Rick Ballard]

"How can non-nuke power plants not have carbon emissions?"

Easy. Just stop putting that nasty carbon based fuel in the heater thingys. Mount wind turbines on the roof, surround them with green solar panels and there you are.

Wait 'til you see the part forbidding utilities to raise rates to cover the increased taxes. That's where the true genius of the Democrat plan lies.

[Old Lurker]

Rick, WaPo last week ran a column arguing buildings in DC reduce AC usage back to 1950's levels...and then described all the great improvements a return to our Rockwell past would cause. Perhaps a bit of a joke, but perhaps not.

[ROA]

Pacific Power customers will receive a 14% rate increase starting next January. Most of the increase is due to improvements in the east-west transmission backbone, investments in wind, hydroelectric and gas plants, and pollution controls at a coal plant.

[matt the organ grinder]

Moon bat crazy Larry Hagman is running down the halls of the Moscone here in San Fran in an aluminum foil helmet at this convention telling everyone the world is going to end in 13 years if we all don't buy their solar modules....

I think it's like having a trained monkey that does a flip while you whistle and sneak them a piece of banana.

Then when you give them their own banana or say 20 Million bananas, they go banana shit crazy from the overdose of toxins. This would explain Sean Penn, Danny Glover, and most other actors.

When you deny them the piece of banana, you get Mel Gibson and Lindsey Lohan.The critical factor is to closely ration the intake of bananas and always remember they were bat shit crazy in the first place.

[Danube of Thought]

OL, I recall the good old days in DC when the only air conditioning in the area was in the downtown movie theaters. All their ads, and big banners on the marquees, blared "twenty degrees cooler inside!" A couple of buddies and I would get on the bus in Alexandria and go over to a theater and sit there the entire afternoon. No one cared what movie was playing.

Back to the future...

[DebinNC]

Just when voters' memories of the Cornhusker Kickback and LA Purchase might be fading, the Dems will provide a refresher course by bribing enough senators to pass the economy killing Pass and Tax? Okie doke.

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

I suppose the WaPo style section will next treat us to tales of the romantic aspects of candle light and horse drawn carriage rides.

The Philly Fed and Empire Manufacturing reports suggest that a bunch more people are about to have more free time in which to enjoy all the benefits conferred by that slower pace of life. It's almost as if all those increases in temp hiring aren't going to translate into permanent jobs...

[narciso the harpoon]

More 'funemployment' on the way, I can't wait

[Danube of Thought]

I probably should add that we're dying out here in Coronado--it hit 79 yesterday afternoon, and the forecast is for more of the same today and tomorrow. Of course, the humidity is around 50 percent and there's a steady breeze from the Pacific, but still...

[Old Lurker]

Yep, DoT.

Ain't gonna do it...

The older I get, the more comfortable I am at 72F. Whatever the cost to deliver that to the bubble which I occupy at the moment.

Back in your days here, one could safely sleep with windows open, the kids in a tent in the yard, and the grownups on the "sleeping porches". And State and other embassies paid hardship bonuses for staff stationed here.

Do my windows even open? I am as unfamiliar with that as I am with whatever is under the hood of my cars these days...

[narciso the harpoon]

Not surprising they've been giving us the other stuff that comes from horses for years now

[Old Lurker]

Rub it in DoT, rub it in.

Daughter #1 has been singing the praises of her/your weather in San Clemente where she moved with her Marine hubby last year. She bemoans the upcoming move to Chicago when her husband leaves the Marines for BSchool in August.

[Janesquaredance]

Do my windows even open? I am as unfamiliar with that as I am with whatever is under the hood of my cars these days...

That sort of describes getting older to me. It is very hard to believe I once changed my own oil.

[Old Lurker]

Guy giving us a tour of London last week mentioned the huge number of early deaths from the days London was heated with coal fires in every house, and disease spread from the horse byproduct that covered the streets.

[Old Lurker]

I recently tried to CHECK the oil in my car Jane. Took five minutes to figure how to open the hood, then after twenty minutes looking for the dipstick, I read the manual to find there WAS no dipstick...the engine's computer apparently tracks that stuff.

[Parking Lot]

I don't get Drudge's headline, ~Gift to the Dems~ about the release of W's autobiography. Does he mean it in the sense of payback or in the sense of the timing being a true gift?

[Janet]

No air conditioning, no sugar, no salt, no tobacco, no trans-fats, no morals, no cars, no pets,...
Dengue Fever in Florida...

It is like a nationwide "Extreme Makeover..National Edition" that is taking us back in time.

[Old Lurker]

Don't forget the no movie popcorn Janet.

[Janet]

then after twenty minutes looking for the dipstick, I read the manual

LOL! What is it about guys and reading directions? That is one stereotype that is absolutely true!

[narciso the harpoon]

That's seems odd, PL, he will be clarifying the record, but you know how the left thinks is typified by that french proverb 'what a horrible animal, it defends itself'

[DebinNC]

I imagine it will be cool for the Obamas in Maine this weekend. Ditto their return to the pricey Martha's Vineyard estate for two weeks in August. I don't know how cool their Christmas vacation in HI was, but their Spring getaway to Asheville was pleasant. I'm sure the Gulf folks and unemployed will appreciate WH pics of their smiling faces enjoying themselves so much.

[Janet]

Don't forget the no movie popcorn Janet.

Ah yes...I love one of Clarice's old posts, "Center for Science in the Public Interest, a group of the most obnoxious nannies ever, recommends we eat the box the popcorn is sold in." Hah!

[Dave (in MA)]

Old Lurker, I was going to suggest that even though I love my AC I'd make that exchange if we got to go back to 1950s tax rates, but then I looked it up:
In the 1950s a couple filing jointly making $100K paid a 75% rate; that rate's now 25%.
I'll keep my AC, thanks.

[narciso the harpoon]

We have to come up with a new word for this, because 'tone deaf' doesn't encompass this level of detachment

[matt the organ grinder]

Matt's theory of the bat shit craziness of entertainers. One has to study lower primate psychology to truly understand what has happened to Hollywood. LUN.

[bgates]

a scaled-back energy bill that limits carbon pollution by power plants but not by other industries

That's a relief. That means we can avoid the price increases so long as we stay away from goods and services that are provided through the use of electricity.

I wonder if anybody could ask the administration which goods and services those are?

[Janet]

Senate VIP Loans Mount

Countrywide Dealt With More Lawmakers and Staffers Than Previously Known

[The Barbar.]

Demonize those who send the bills, and bribe the constituency. Martyr circuses and bread. The Romans were more explicit.
==============

[Janesquaredance]

I also posted Matt's latest at You Too - it is very good.

OL, I can't believe I ever lived without a GPS or a camera that tells me what I am backing into.

[Danube of Thought]

Wouldn't you think there might be someone, anyone, in this White House who would persuade this very strange couple to change their plans and vacation somewhere on the Gulf? It just seems so simple.

[We welcome the new nastiness, the novel brutishness, and the exotic brevity of life.]

Clive Crook's good in the Atlantic on the Big Green Lie.
===================

[Parking Lot]

narcisco

a gift because it will deflect attention off Owebama?

I don't think slandering Bush will be quite as effective as it was the past ...

[Could the next Republican President pardon Libby?]

I like Rove's admission that the failure to push back about WMD was his biggest mistake. Well, then why couldn't he and Cheney convince Bush to pardon Libby?
===============

[Neo]

"scaled back" .. my ass

This is part of the "energy vehicle" to pile "cap-and tax" onto in conference, after the elections.

[Janesquaredance]

Can anyone think of a good way to force Congress to reveal who has been charged with harassment and paid off by the taxpayers?

[Neo]

Hey .. Great News ...
China Has Been Covertly Funding A Housing Bubble Five Times Larger Than That Of The US: 65 Million Vacant Homes Uncovered
... this is probably Bush's fault too.

[Clarice]

Jane, the funny part of that is this:OL is so much more knowledgeable about home repair than Mr C that he is the guy I go to for repair advice! Yes, Mr No dipstick..

[Clarice]

DoT I think the last time MO listened to anyone it was the person who told her to buy asian hair wigs when they vacationed in Hawaii, to wear artillery belts under her boobs to draw attention away from that behind and to paint a white stripe down her nose so it would look thinner.

[Captain Hate]

Is dumping on OL for not being able to find something that's been an integral part of the internal combustion engine since at least the Model T really the fight you wimmens want?

[Janet]

Matt,
Hollywood seems starved for attention & purpose. Without God and an eternal purpose, they are left with earthly money & fame...& it isn't enough. Their lives HAVE to matter.
Here is a link to an old DiCaprio article, "I Need Something Different"

”During that time, he thought about his life and its purpose. He found it in environmental causes. Today—through public advocacy, political action and fund-raising—he works to stop the rise of global warming and the extinction of species."
It is his religion, and he is trying to forcefully convert us. He belongs to the Evangelical Radical Environmentalist Church without even realizing it.

[Soylent Obamacare]

or a camera that tells me what I am backing into.

Hear! Hear!

The look on those little old ladies' faces as my bumper gets closer and closer is priceless...

[Janet]

Hahaha good point Captain! I don't know where our dipstick is other than under the hood. :)

[Ranger]

Wouldn't you think there might be someone, anyone, in this White House who would persuade this very strange couple to change their plans and vacation somewhere on the Gulf? It just seems so simple.

Posted by: Danube of Thought | July 15, 2010 at 11:16 AM

I have know doubt they are very afraid that if they do vacation there, it will be used against them. These are all people who know how do demolish someone publicly even when they do the right thing (its what community organizers do). What some smart person from the Gulf Coast should do is set up a tent city outside of where ever Obama decides to vacation. He obviously needs to be reminded that people are suffering because of his failure.

[PDinDetroit]

... this is probably Bush's fault too.

We need to create the "Obama Response Spinner" that is used whenever an issue occurs. The panels could include the following:

1. Blame BUSH!
2. Blame Republicans!
3. Blame The People!
4. Blame Race or Inequity!
5. Speak endlessly about nothing
6. Play Golf
7. Ignore the situation and have another smoke out back.

[Danube of Thought]

Unprecedented:

LOS ANGELES -- More than 1 million American households are likely to lose their homes to foreclosure this year, as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans. Nearly 528,000 homes were taken over by lenders in the first six months of the year, a rate that is on track to eclipse the more than 900,000 homes repossessed in 2009, according to data released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing service. "That would be unprecedented," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.

Recovery summer continues.

[Ranger]

BTW, all this talk about companies hording cash may be part of the VAT and/or Gross Receipts tax narative that will come out of the Washington insider debt reduction commission.

[Captain Hate]

I don't know where our dipstick is other than under the hood. :)

Assuming it's even there. Maybe I'm the only person that feels this way but not having a dipstick and relying solely on the electronics sounds like a good way to fry an engine inadvertantly; although maybe electronics are more failsafe than I ever imagined them being.

[JM Hanes]

Parking Lot:

"a gift because it will deflect attention off Owebama?"

It may not be as effective as it once was, but Democrats have been pretty up front about running against Bush, again. Anything that puts his name back in play is a windfall. They'll start scouring it for "selected" quotes, the day it hits the stands.

Janet:

"What is it about guys and reading directions?"

Or asking for them.

[JM Hanes]

DoT:

"I probably should add that we're dying out here in Coronado--it hit 79 yesterday afternoon..."

Now that's just cruel. Reminds me of the old San Francisco headline: 70° Again Today, No Relief in Sight

[MayBee]

If it makes you all feel better, we have heat warnings here. It will get at least to 100.

[lyle]

Silly people.

The dipstick you're looking for lives in a somewhat famous house on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. And he's up to his ass in oil.

[Parking Lot]

((I don't know where our dipstick is other than under the hood. :)))

that is a good opening for a joke about the White House

[PDinDetroit]

although maybe electronics are more failsafe than I ever imagined them being

Imperfect beings designed, fabricated, and installed it. Only a matter of time before it fails. I wouldn't bet the farm on computers/electronics unless there are multiple redundant systems (the dipstick and a manual process of reading it being one of them).

A guy not being able to find his dipstick conjures up all kinds of "interesting" imagery.

MTTF Defined - LUN

[boris]

"although maybe electronics are more failsafe than I ever imagined them being"

They just have to be statistically more vigilent than the average motorist. A low bar to clear. No reason to not have both for the occasional attentive driver though.

[Porchlight]

He belongs to the Evangelical Radical Environmentalist Church without even realizing it.

DiCaprio has always struck me as a very weird guy. And for the record, I've thought Tom Cruise was a freak from the first moment I saw him in Risky Business. He has crazy eyes.

[centralcal]

Rush is on fire about the White House commanding, ordering, mandating, issuing an edict that a whole list of medical tests will be "free."

MOTUS posted on this yesterday with photos of Moochelle making the announcement. LUN

[Parking Lot]

JM Hanes

At some point the Bushhate and race cards have to be overplayed and I am hopeful now is the time. Maybe Bush knows something we don't know and is using the release date as a strategery. At times he played his hand very well (that's in part why he was hated so much.)

[Porchlight]

At times he played his hand very well (that's in part why he was hated so much.)

I remember years ago back at Roger Simon's blog, a regular commenter described having attended Yale while Bush was there. Apparently it was well understood on campus that George W. Bush was a superior poker player and one should be very careful going up against him.

I wonder how good Obama is at poker.

[Rick Ballard]

"I wonder how good Obama is at poker."

He's better at bowling.

[Janesquaredance]

He's better at bowling.

LOL

[Neo]

Recognizing that Democrats would be reluctant to record “yes” votes for a budget that would augment the deficit, the House leadership opted to deem as passed a “budget enforcement resolution” instead, just before the July 4 recess. While the distinction between an enforcement resolution and a full budget is largely technical, there is one crucial difference: Under the enforcement resolution, Democrats can no longer use a parliamentary tactic known as budget reconciliation next year — a process Democrats had hoped might allow them to pass key pieces of legislation, such as a jobs bill, with 51 votes in the Senate, as opposed to the usual 60 needed to overcome a filibuster.

Even if the Democrats hang on to Congress in Novemeber, they've shot themselves in the foot.

[PDinDetroit]

OT - Kwame Kilpatrick is up on charges of Sexual Misconduct, with his WIFE!

LUN.

[Neo]

I’ve reread this a couple of times and I’m not sure what the exact meaning of “next year”. I’m presuming fiscal year.
This could be a fatal error for hopes of using reconciliation in the lame duck session to add “cap-and-tax’ to a stripped down energy bill that Reid is now introducing.

[Porchlight]

Even if the Democrats hang on to Congress in Novemeber, they've shot themselves in the foot.

Another reason why they are going to try to ram through everything before 12/31. And Brown, Collins, Snowe et. al. are going to help them, evidently.

Scary times.

[Porchlight]

He's better at bowling.

Heh. And golf, I suppose.

[Old Lurker]

Thank's for the assist Cap'n. The women love it when guys are flummoxed about cars...

Seriously, the damn car does not have a diptick. That should be illegal even if they just put a dummy one there for men over fifty.

Jane that backup camera/beeper was at work last week. I mentioned my recent trip to London. One of my pals commented that the block we stayed on was a candy story for guys in that every car on the street was to die for. Hell with girl watching...the cars were just stunning.

From my hotel window I saw two literally $500,000 cars separated by one short parking space that was vacant. Along comes the third gazillion dollar car signalling intent to squeeze into the space. I called Mrs. L to the window to watch the destruction, and when the deed was done I could not resist going down to see the damage. There was not a scratch on any of the three cars, and the beautiful gal driving (yes, I did notice) explained that between the cameras and the "radar thingy", she never hits anybody.

[Neo]

Another reason why they are going to try to ram through everything before 12/31.

I think, if I read that right, this refers to FY2011, which means reconciliation will be off the table during any possible "lame duck" session after the election. They have till 9/30.

[Captain Hate]

Thank's for the assist Cap'n.

My pleasure OL; anybody that's paid tuition to Columbia has already endured enough misery in life.

The women love it when guys are flummoxed about cars

Get back to me when you find one who can accurately read a map.

[PDinDetroit]

OL - It appears that there are some issues with "no dipstick" cars - LUN.

Here is the part I love:

I was told the proper way to check the oil is to return the car to your BMW dealership and it will put the vehicle on a rack, drain the oil, measure it, and then reinstall the oil in the car.

Any time something is built to be "idiot proof", someone comes along and invents a better idiot.

[JM Hanes]

Parking Lot:

Yeah, I think the Bush meme has been going stale for awhile now, even though his bio looks like a gift, from a Dem perspective. I'd pretty much go with bring it on, myself. The news that Dick Cheney's favorables have been ticking up over the past year, should be giving somebody heartburn.

Obama may respond to criticism (insufficient emoting!), but when it comes to "messaging" he's a one trick pony. He doesn't know how to stop campaigning, probably because he's never done anything else. He won the White House running against Bush and has just continued on, delivering the same stump speech, with only minor tweaks, ad nauseam, ever since. He thought passing a healthcare bill, any healthcare bill, would be his ace in the hole. When that turned radioactive, he just doubled down on Bush.

[JM Hanes]

Captain Hate:

"My pleasure OL; anybody that's paid tuition to Columbia has already endured enough misery in life."

I'll see you that misery, and raise you having to sit through a Bollinger commencement speech.

[Captain Hate]

Oh dear God, JMH; I surrender. My youngest Hatette's commencement speaker was David Stern, who is an incompetent douche but knows how to give an entertaining speech.

Hmmmm, who else does that describe?

[narciso the harpoon]

That very 'credentialed moron' doesn't understand the difference between the BBC
and Xinhua the Chinese state propaganda arm

[JM Hanes]

Captain Hate:

"Is dumping on OL for not being able to find something that's been an integral part of the internal combustion engine since at least the Model T really the fight you wimmens want?"

Is that really the fight that you want to have?

[Janesquaredance]

OL - it sounds like you stayed at the Dorchester.

[JM Hanes]

If I'd realized that you'd already surrendered, Captain, I'd have saved my last post for a rainy day.

[Captain Hate]

I didn't think OL's memory was the issue.

[Captain Hate]

Ya know, I really envy people that comment on software that updates promptly....

[Ignatz]

--although maybe electronics are more failsafe than I ever imagined them being--

On my wife's car I get a monthly email letting me know the pressure in each tire, whether each of several areas have passed or failed a diagnostics check and the remaining oil life per the last oil change.
OTOH the car does have an actual dipstick.

[Ignatz]

--although maybe electronics are more failsafe than I ever imagined them being--

On my wife's car I get a monthly email letting me know the pressure in each tire, whether each of several areas have passed or failed a diagnostics check and the remaining oil life per the last oil change.
OTOH the car does have an actual dipstick.

[Old Lurker]

Oh man...ditto all the above.

JMH, I blogged at JOM Bollinger's address this year because I could not frickin believe it. Knew about that sort of thing, but in real life it is something to behold.

PD that very car maker bragged a year or two ago about their new design for lights inside the dash and car. Seems they were convinced placing one strong bulb in a box somewhere and piping the light about the car in fiber optic cables, could be done and would save us from changing bulbs in the future. I'm trying to recall how many such light bulbs I have actually had to change in all the cars I have owned...and how much that bit of German engineering added to the price of the car.

Iggy, I get those emails too. Spooked me bigtime when the first arrived telling me all that info, plus the mileage on my car at that moment and where it was.

I'm not sure I like that. And I sure as hell don't like all the data recoverable should I be in an accident and the plaintiff's attorney wants to see it.

[Old Lurker]

Cap'n, things sure have changed.

By luck of the draw, I had Wm. F. Buckley at both my graduations.

[JM Hanes]

I'll fess up, Captain. I was just looking for a fight that the wimmens could win.

[Clarice]

Now that you mention it, it's probably been five years or more since I put air in my tires. I've never changed a bulb i it and the Toyota dealer says he put it up on blocks the last time I took it in for a checkup --- he wanted to get photos of it for the Guinness Book of Records because it has such low mileage on it. I hate driving.My car is just a means of getting groceries and plants home and my bod to Pilates class.

[Captain Hate]

JMH, we're often at odds with each other but, unlike the trolls, you're a worthy opponent when it comes to butting heads. You give as least as good as you get.

OL, I take it they were from 2 different schools. Were they entertaining/inspiring (caveat: I'm not the biggest WFB fan in the world although I'm not a detractor either)?

[JM Hanes]

I was two years behind my sister, when I had the dubious pleasure of hearing Hillary Clinton speak at her graduation. Who knew?

[Ignatz]

--JMH, we're often at odds with each other but, unlike the trolls, you're a worthy opponent when it comes to butting heads. You give as least as good as you get.--

The nice thing about JMH is she always pops our balloons with such a sweet disposition.

[Old Lurker]

Gag me JMH. That is a brifge too far.

Cap'n as I recall both of his speeches were very good in that he said it was OK for me to be conservative even in the 60's and early 70's.

Later as I read more and watched him some, like you I became somewhat indifferent to his particular packaging. You have to admit, though, his style of interviewing and debate would be a welcome change these days if he could find an equal to argue the other side

But then I got hooked on his sailing books and his spy novels and have been fond of him since.

[Old Lurker]

"brifge"?

bridge of course...

[Captain Hate]

The nice thing about JMH is she always pops our balloons with such a sweet disposition.

Yeah but holes in your condoms are chock fulla downside...

[Captain Hate]

You have to admit, though, his style of interviewing and debate would be a welcome change these days if he could find an equal to argue the other side

Agreed; those were different times...

[narciso the harpoon]

The Sapling, the one immortalized by Iowahawk
has really dissapointed. One figured he would
turn to Obama, after begging his lacrosse pals
to vote for McCain, (the antihero in his last
book, was a Midwestern McCain)he walked on his wife, the daughter of career CIA official
Don Gregg, and he Mommy Dearest his parents, solid chap all around

[Old Lurker]

True that, Narciso.

[Ignatz]

--Yeah but holes in your condoms are chock fulla downside...--

Channeling your inner Chaco, CH? :)