Posted by Caleb Howe
RedState.com
November 5th 2009
As Moe foreshadowed on Tuesday, SENATOR Barbara Boxer decided to make an end-run around Republicans on the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee by voting on cap-and-trade legislation with no Republicans present. The Briefing room reports today on the SENATOR’s rule-breaking:
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today on Fox News said that committee rules dictate that at least two members of the minority must be present when meeting. Boxer held a vote on the legislation, which passed 10-1, but no Republicans were present for the vote.
Republican members of the committee have been boycotting the hearings all week because the legislation has not yet been scored by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“That was unprecendented, I think the bill is dead,” Inhofe told Fox.
Inhofe points out that SENATOR Boxer rammed this through despite objections from 6 ranking members of other committees. As Moe noted, there is virtually no chance Boxer’s bill will survive now. SENATOR Boxer may have torpedoed her own bill, so great was her lust to quash debate and mow over any republican objection, in keeping with this Congress’ current SOP.
All of which is pretty funny to have in the press day after the SENATOR’s office released the following statement on her website:
Senator Boxer Lauds California Water Legislation
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) lauded bipartisan legislation passed by the California State Legislature to address the state’s water crisis.
Senator Boxer said, “I commend the legislature and the governor for their successful efforts to approve a comprehensive water package and bond measure that will be presented to California voters. While no legislation is perfect, the bipartisan spirit that led to the passage of these measures will move our state toward meeting the needs of our people, our farming communities and the environment. We must continue to work together, at the state and federal level, on pragmatic short-term and long-term solutions.”
Emphasis added. So no legislation is perfect, and if we work together we can … sorry, choked on my Aquafina … well let’s just summarize: YES WE CAN!
SENATOR Boxer runs roughshod over Republicans in violation of senate procedures when Republicans won’t do it her way, even against the objection of fellow global warmers and moderates in the Senate. My way or the highway, please. And do call me SENATOR.
But in California, when Republicans get in line to please the Environmental Defense Fund by signing on to a $12 BILLION water plan that Chuck DeVore says is “so bulked up with pork that it is going to sink under the weight of its own pork,” … well NOW the SENATOR is all bipartisan-curious. But hey, she just wants water for Californians, right?
Well. Not exactly. Republicans signing on to Democrat legislation is bi-awesome. Democrats signing on to REPUBLICAN legislation? Not so much. Carly Fiorina reminds us that “Senate Democrats – led by Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer – defeated a California water amendment offered by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.”
Bipolartisanship is nothing new to SENATORs like Barbara Boxer. As every RedState regular knows, when Democrats talk about reaching across the aisle, they mean us. If Snowe goes along with them it’s bipartisan. If DeMint doesn’t it’s obstructionist. If Lieberman goes along with us it’s treason.
Just so we’re clear.
