The Return of Nine Percent Nancy

According to an article posted on National Review :

...the House is expected to vote as soon as tomorrow on Democratic legislation that would “allow drilling more than 100 miles from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and as close to 50 miles from the shore if coastal states agree to it.”

According to the Institute for Energy Research (IER,) the Pelosi Plan will:

• Permanently ban access to about 97 percent of the undersea oil lying within 50 miles of the California coast.
• Continue the ban on energy production in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
• Impose a brand-new ban on oil and gas leases in Alaska’s coastal waters out to 50 miles.
• Not allow states that approve new leases beyond 50 miles to share royalties with the federal government, thus stripping any financial incentive for states to stand up to environmental pressure groups, who will continue to agitate against any new oil and gas operations offshore.

The Democrat's plan will PERMANENTLY ban all the blue and green, leaving only the red available for drilling and exploration.

Original chart can be found here.

How does taking 97% of the off-shore oil reserves "off the table" break our reliance on foreign-sourced oil? Once the Republican side of the House votes against this ridiculous piece of garbage, the Democrats will use it to deflect criticism away from themselves.

Politics as usual. All the more reason to make sure the Dems lose in November.

People in glass houses...

"Nine-percent Nancy" throws a few stones, again...

WASHINGTON — President Bush has been a "total failure" in everything from the economy to the war to energy policy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

In an interview on CNN, the California Democrat was asked to respond to video of the president criticizing the Democratic-led Congress for heading into the final 26 days of the legislative session without having passed a single government spending bill.

Pelosi shot back in unusually personal terms.

"You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject," Pelosi replied. She then tsk-tsked Bush for "challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again."

However, according to a Rasmussen poll, Congress themselves isn't doing very well either. Democrats give Congress just a 9% approval rating, Republicans give Congress an 8% approval rating, and non-partisans give Congress a 3% approval rating.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008.

Okay, Okay, I get it. Congress doesn't like President Bush. Many people don't. I, for, one, am not exactly thrilled with some of his policies, either. However, with their own approval ratings in the crapper, members of Congress on BOTH sides of the aisle ought to be a little more worried about their own job performance, rather than throwing stones at a man who will be out of office in six more months. With approval ratings this low, they may not be far behind.