Whenever they've got a "must pass" bill, they load it up with all sorts of nastyness, and then throw in ANWR.
All the coverage of the package highlights the "controversial" drilling proposal, with, perhaps, passing mention of the other crap in the 6th graph.
The Republican "moderates" then bolster their credentials by "saving" the refuge. Dems enable by boasting about their victory, while the rest of the sewage gets a virtually free pass. The cycle gets repeated at least twice a year.
ALMOST makes we wish we'd lose it once, so they can't play the card again. Again.