No Runny Eggs

For the reference point, read my post here.

This morning, TheHill.Com is reporting that the Senate “Gang of Invertebrates” will not offer their energy bill until after the elections!

A bipartisan group of senators who sought a compromise in the rancorous energy debate won’t introduce their bill before lawmakers adjourn for the elections, several Senate aides said Thursday.

Well, maybe not everyone got a brain:

No legislative language was drafted in early August. But the group agreed to a broad set of goals, including transitioning 85 percent of the country’s automobiles to non-petroleum-based fuels within 20 years, providing incentives to boost nuclear energy, repealing billions in subsidies for oil companies, opening the Eastern Gulf of Mexico off of Florida for oil exploration, and allowing Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to decide whether to allow drilling off their shores.

Yet there is still hope, even for the slow ones:

But many Republicans criticized the plan, raising concerns that by offering a compromise to Democrats and their presidential candidate Barack Obama, it would blunt a potent election-year attack that has gained traction at the polls. GOP presidential candidate John McCain opposed the plan, and Democrats were preparing to attack the Arizona senator for standing in the way of a bipartisan compromise. And many Republicans, like Sen. McCain, said repealing subsidies from oil companies would amount to a tax hike.

I’m glad to see that the Republicans now understandthe political angle of their “Suicide Compact.” Had the Senate R’s pushed forward with their plan, they would have either forced McCain to move with them or spend a lot of time explaining how his “friends” were “well meaning” but “dumb as a box of rocks on this topic.”

The drilling moratorium ends on October 1st. Unless the Dems try to force a reup for the moratorium into one of the budget bills (unlikely at this point), the world changes on October 2nd. I’m not suggesting that there is an armada of drilling rigs sitting in docks, building steam, ready to break loose the moorings on October 2nd. I am saying that I don’t know how the toothpaste gets back in the tube after the election. The one possibility is if the Dems sweep the Presidency, the House and a filibuster proof Senate…that would be bad not just for oil but for the entire economy. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen!

In the meantime, there are 20 Senators who still don’t get the bigger picture. I’ve got 2 in my state. You can bet they’ll be hearing from me (only one will even listen) while they’re home on the recess. A candidate is most pliable on their positions when they think their job is at risk.