House Republican Leaders Pull "Banana Republic" Power Play on Energy

In case you haven't been following the extraordinary drama that played out this afternoon in the House of Representatives as it voted on the energy bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX.):

Amid suggestions (by Democrat Rep. Henry Waxman)  that the House leadership had turned Congress into a "banana republic," the leadership held the vote open on final passage of the Barton energy bill just long enough to twist some arms and win by a razor's edge.  Of course they probably doomed the bill to ultimate oblivion because the process appeared so tainted.  

Two Republican members - I am told they were Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania and Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland  - switched their votes under pressure from the Republican leadership (Tom DeLay was seen on the floor), and ultimately backed this awful legislation.  It finally prevailed on a 212-210 vote after they crumbled.  They didn't exactly show profiles in courage.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called this power play a demonstration of "the culture of corruption of the Republican party."

The vote ended with a chorus of united Democrats loudly chanting "SHAME, SHAME!"

Frank O'Donnell

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