Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > August > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USA GOP divide over energy: Gingrey rejects bipartisan energy proposal pushed by Chambliss, Isakson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, operating in high re-election gear, has suddenly been forced to defend his “Gang of Ten” energy proposal — not from Democratic attacks, but from slashes by fellow Republicans.
On Saturday, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey declared that Georgia’s two senators — Johnny Isakson is also part of the bipartisan effort — are on the wrong track. Other House Republicans from Georgia are likely to follow Gingrey’s lead.
Reaction started on Friday, when conservative radio godfather Rush Limbaugh declared the “Gang of Ten” energy package to be “bipartisan garbage.”
The current headline on the Limbaugh web site is “Gang of 10 Sells Out House GOP; Stupid Senators Give Gift to Obama.” You get the drift.
On Saturday morning, Gingrey put out a press release that included this:
“While I respect our Senators’ desire to find legislation that reaches consensus with Senate Democrats, the American people are more interested in lower gas prices than in Senate procedural pleasantries.
“The only thing they care about is a comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy plan to lower the cost of fuel. For far too long, this Congress has accepted ‘compromise’ energy legislation and look what it has got us—$4 gasoline,” Gingrey said.
Chambliss and Gingrey were to share a stage in Carrollton at a Republican rally this afternoon. No doubt they had much to talk about.
Chambliss spokeswoman Michelle Grasso said the all-or-nothing approach advocated by Gingrey could prove expensive. “Since the Gang of Ten started meeting, the price of a barrel of crude has dropped $35. This proposal is absolutely doing that,” she said. “We could wait til November and have $6 or $7-a-gallon gasoline.”
And Limbaugh? “He has a right to say what he wants, but this is a solution. Even Rush is paying cheaper prices for gasoline now,” Grasso said.
Comments
By Taxpayer
August 9, 2008 5:18 PM | Link to this
I never realized just how stupid some of the Republicans are before now. Did I read that tripe from Saxby’s mouthpiece correctly? Assuming she’s speaking Saxby’s thoughts, then Saxby thinks that oil prices have dropped $35 / barrel because of this “Gang of Ten” proposal. I just keep racking up reasons why never to vote for any of these idiots. That is right up there at the top of my list of stupid lines from politicians. These people are really idiots.
By Churchill
August 9, 2008 5:23 PM | Link to this
I’m perplexed, I wrote a big ole check from the Mrs. to Saxby, had I known my GOD (Limbaugh) chose to not share the bread of Jesus and learnt the art of compromize I would not have usen my ladies funds so datardly
By Churchill
August 9, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this
I have been name hijacked by some idiot lib that hates the fact that I call them out on their garbage. You see, It makes the libs feel better to make assumptions and attempt, poorly, to marginalize me or any other conservative for that matter. They cannot abide any sort of dissent. They get that from their deep roots in communism. Anyway, I am supporting Saxby. I and the Mrs, have given the legal limit, individually, to his campaign and will watch with excitement on election day as the libs are forced to deal with loss again. Peace.
VIVA SAXBY VIVA MCCAIN
By Mrs. Churchill
August 9, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this
Viva Olive Viva Chartreuse
These is the colors my store that don’t like lib commies is promotin’ for the upcomin’ season if your narrow-minded and got a mccain sticker on your foreign auto i give a good discount wink wink
By Taxpayer
August 9, 2008 7:45 PM | Link to this
All this talk by Republicans about drilling for oil indicates one of two likely scenarios to me: 1) they are a bunch of idiots to think that drilling for the little amount of “easy” oil we have left (excluding kerogen, the precursor in oil shale that could be used to manufacture fuels ten years down the road if we had enough water, power and capital to invest, and the strategic petroleum reserve which is the only untapped US reserve of oil that can be tapped immediately) will have any useful impact, ever, on the price of gasoline or on the amount of oil that we purchase from non-US sources, 2) it is a ruse to try and get the voters to focus on something other than the lousy economy and the never-ending wars that we have been dragged into. I think it could just be Item 2 because surely there are not this many Republican elected ones that are so stupid, are there? There simply can’t be that many, so, the real story is more likely that they want the taxpayers to blame the Democrats for something stupid like keeping gas prices high by not drilling for a few more barrels of oil instead of blaming the Republicans for the credit mess, foreclosures, declining property values, the steady loss of just about all jobs that pay more than hamburger-flipping wages, steadily climbing inflation, steadily rising property taxes, increasing number of taxpayer-funded government jobs, rising cost of health care, steadily dropping values of retirement funds, huge drop in the value of a dollar, the never-ending flow of billions of dollars into Iraq and Afghanistan, the on-going war casualties and loss of American lives, etc. Thank you Republicans and especially Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld for the fine mess you’ve made. Did you accomplish everything that you set out to accomplish? Did you achieve all those goals that you set when you took office?
By Samsara
August 9, 2008 11:38 PM | Link to this
So, the truth is out. Republicans want to use high oil prices for political gain more than they want to work on lowering them. Sad.
By Ga Values
August 10, 2008 6:31 AM | Link to this
Shipp: Martin can’t be nice guy in race for U.S. Senate | | Story updated at 12:19 AM on Sunday, August 10, 2008
Bill Shipp
more Shipp columns
Tuesday, Georgia Democrats did what many thought not possible. They rejected the Senate candidacy of controversial DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, and chose instead to nominate Jim Martin to take on Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss this fall. Martin, a Vietnam veteran and former state Department of Human Resources commissioner under Gov. Sonny Perdue and former Gov. Roy Barnes, also represented part of Atlanta in the General Assembly for 18 years.
When Jones announced his candidacy in early 2007, he was judged the immediate frontrunner. He was a black man running in an increasingly black Democratic primary, and his electoral base was in DeKalb, which now casts more votes in Democratic statewide contests than any other Georgia county.
What many (including Jones) failed to realize was how deeply alienating his tenure as DeKalb CEO had been. An endless string of controversies followed him around, most entirely self-inflicted. They run the gamut from accusations of rape to repeated allegations of physical confrontations with fellow elected officials and constituents.
To his credit, Martin concentrated on entering into a runoff with Jones, and then tread carefully during the head-to-head contest. He focused on Jones’ open flirtation with the Republican Party, including his boasting that he supported President Bush in 2000 and 2004. Martin understood Democratic primary voters knew about Jones’ travails, and there was no need to throw gasoline on the fire by highlighting them. Instead, he reminded Democrats that Jones has strong Republican leanings and is pro-Bush, a toxic charge in a Democratic primary in 2008.
Martin received a major assist from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. While visiting the state in July, Obama clearly let Georgians know he disapproved of Jones’ unauthorized use of Obama’s image on Jones’ campaign mail, and he didn’t think much of Jones’ support for Bush.
The net result of Jones’ problems is that he failed to break 40 percent in DeKalb County. He actually ran worse there than he did statewide, and as a result, he went down in flames.
Martin deserves credit for running a smartly low-key primary race that ensured he secured the Democratic nomination without alienating blacks because he will need them in November. That said, Martin must shift gears quickly to take advantage of the openings Chambliss has given him. So far, that shift does not appear to have happened. When Chambliss called a news conference to attack Martin the day after the runoff, Martin took hours to respond and then did so with a quick appearance before reporters, reading a bland statement and taking no questions.
The well-funded Chambliss is clearly the favorite, but he has made some missteps that give Martin a real shot, if the Democrat uses them.
A recent example is an incident that only can be described as insensitive and strange. Chambliss showed up at a hearing held by a Senate subcommittee of which he is not a member to aggressively attack a whistleblower testifying about the safety problems at the Imperial Sugar plant in Savannah, where a February dust explosion killed 13 people.
When you add Chambliss’ willingness to carry the water for the sugar industry against his own constituents to his support for a wildly unpopular bill that would have provided a way for illegal immigrants to become citizens, you get the picture of a guy more interested in protecting the agribusinesses that fund his political career than the people who sent him to Washington.
Maybe that’s because the senator’s world seems filled with lobbyists, from Chief of Staff Charlie Harman, who came through the revolving door straight from his lobbying job for the insurance industry, to Chambliss’ son, Bo, who just happened to find himself a lobbying gig when Dad went to Congress.
Martin has a chance to define Chambliss as the archetype of what Americans don’t like about our nation’s capital, and in a year of change, that might give him the chance to pull off an upset.
That only will happen, however, if nice guy Martin decides he’ll take the fight to Chambliss.
By ron
August 10, 2008 7:17 AM | Link to this
The all or nothing Republicans are well aware that their proposal will be turned down flat and they will gain reams of rhetoric over the issue.That’s all they can hope for and all they want.Meanwhile nothing gets done,which suits their purpose just fine.There is a reason that the Republican party is in deep trouble and that reason can be found over on the right.That group doesn’t have the power to do anything except talk.Republican numbers are going to dwindle in the near future due to the retirements of moderates who have had enough of their right wing colleagues.The righties will soon be able to spend vast amounts of time talking to themselves,way more than they do now.
By Oscar Lewis
August 10, 2008 7:56 AM | Link to this
On the aspect of offshore drilling, Chambliss is not an honest player.
Take a look at my short (less than 2 minutes) YouTube video and you will see for yourself. He tries to sell a cheap lie about the oil spills from hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37SfhywPcHs
By John Wayne
August 10, 2008 9:37 AM | Link to this
Congressman Phil Gingrey has always been solid as a rock. I receive his weekly email and online surveys. He is a medical doctor. He is NOT a banker, developer, builder, banker, grading contractor, lawyer, or real estate agent. Unfortunately our Governor, Lt.Governor, and most of our legislators are developers or hold other jobs listed above that pose a HUGE conflict of interest to us Georgians. SAD. I trust Gingrey, but not the rest!
By Brad
August 10, 2008 6:13 PM | Link to this
Rush is an entertainer folks. His agenda is based on his bottom line and that’s it. It just so happens his business is talking about politics and the more he can get people worked up the more money he makes.
By Ich bin ein Beginner
August 10, 2008 7:06 PM | Link to this
Oscar,
Take a pill. 700,000 gallons of oil spillage in the entire Gulf of Mexico amounts to little as a percentage. If you want to accomplish anything you have to take risks.
I’ll wager much more than that leaks naturally into many of our oceans, rivers, and streams.
I’m not a Saxby fan (and in fact agree with Gingrey), but oil spillage in the Gulf is inconsequential.
I used to think that you libs didn’t understand economics—and that your strange stances on economic issues could be chalked up to ignorance. But I know now that your real goal is to punish people who are successful and make more people dependent on government. If gas prices are high, you look to someone such as Mr. Community Organizer to “give” you $1,000 as a bribe to secure your vote.
You people sure sell out for a cheap price—one that unfortunately is very expensive for the country.
Go buy a lapel pin and stick it.
By Believer
August 10, 2008 8:46 PM | Link to this
The losers are the ones that have bought into the Republican scam for the last two elections. The Republicans, led by Bush and Cheney, have done more harm to this nation than all the combined efforts of the terrorists ever could do. This country has been mis-led for too long. We don’t need any more Republican diversions about oil. That is all it amounts to. The Republicans has kept us in a war that has drained billions from our economy and killed and wounded thousands of innocent people needlessly. The Republicans have allowed our financial system to nearly collapse. They have allowed jobs to continue to flow out of this country. They claim to be for small government while increasing the size of government more and more every year. They think that they can borrow and borrow and never have to deal with paying it back with interest. They have allowed the dollar to decline and thus drive up the cost of oil significantly. They have kept interest rates low thus allowing financial institutions to save themselves from the certain financial problems that they should have been facing now. They have allowed fraudulent practices to persist for years in the financial institutions. It just goes on and on. It’s time for real change and that means getting rid of the Republicans that have led us down this road to ruin. They have violated just about every key aspect of the Republican Party platform and they need to pay. Vote out the Incumbent Republicans.