(From the diaries -- Plutonium Page.)
So here stands the GOP, naked, vulnerable, with its pants around its ankles not knowing what to do or where to aim. The story:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives abandoned, at least temporarily, a drive to open Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling after concluding on Wednesday the initiative was threatening passage of a huge bill to cut spending.
"ANWR and OCS will be out" of the legislation, said House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, an Iowa Republican.
Besides the Alaska oil drilling initiative, the House spending-reduction bill had also called for opening outer-continental shelf, or offshore areas, to oil and gas drilling.
In case you're wondering how the reaction was
foreshadowed:
Still, removing the Arctic oil drilling provision would incite a backlash from lawmakers who strongly favor it, which is a big majority of Republicans. House and Senate GOP leaders are likely to push hard for the final House-Senate version of the bill to include it.
Marnie Funk, a spokeswoman for Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said that Domenici considers the ANWR provision, which the Senate approved, "one of the most critical components" in the budget package. "He is committed to coming back to the Senate from the conference with ANWR intact," she said.
The GOP is hemorraging here. In case you missed it, Social Security "reform" is also
officially off the table as well.
Looks like George Bush's agenda is experiencing some serious shrinkage in his second term.
Well, it's so cold out there for Republicans now, you know...
Update [2005-11-9 22:20:20 by georgia10]:: From the AP wire:
The actions were a stunning setback for those who have tried for years to open a coastal strip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil development, and a victory for environmentalists who have lobbied hard against the drilling provisions. President Bush has made drilling in the Alaska refuge one of his top energy priorities.