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POPS1,201 Page Climate Change Bill HR 2454 Not Read or Debated Not Voting were: Jeff Flake, AZ-6 John Sullivan OK-1 Constitutents of Jeff Flake may wish to inquire why he was not able to vote today. Cong. Sullivan was on one month’s leave for treatment of an alcohol addiction. It’s interesting to note that Cong. Patrick Kennedy (D-MA) was taken out of alcohol rehab for the purposes of voting. Dems apparently felt passing this bill was more important, or perhaps more doable, than sobering up a Kennedy. 300 Page Amendment to 1200 Page Bill Added at 3:09AM
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POPSCapping Our Economy & Trading Our Jobs To China&Co. 219-212 HOUSE PASSES 'GLOBAL WARMING' LEGISLATION... 'BILL OF THE CENTURY' VOTED ON UNREAD... Boehner Tried 'Filibuster'... 300 PAGE DUMP AT 3AM-- REPUBLICANS CRY FOUL... One of the biggest compromises involved the near total elimination of an administration plan to sell pollution permits and raise more than $600 billion over a decade " money to finance continuation of a middle class tax cut. About 85 percent of the permits are to be given away rather than sold in a ceoncession to energy companies and their allies in the House " and even that is uncertain to survive in the Senate. The final bill also contained concessions to satisfy farm-state lawmakers, ethanol producers, hydroelectric advocates, the nuclear industry and others, some of them so late that they were not made public until 3 a.m. on Friday. Supporters and opponents agreed the result would be higher energy costs but disagreed vigorously on the impact on consumers.
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POPSPelosi: The Power Of One "In the House, the power rests in the speaker, the power of recognition, of setting the agenda. . . . Very different rules," Pelosi said. Acknowledging her ability to influence decision-making, Pelosi said in the CNN interview that she gets to operate differently than her Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Reid must reach out to Republicans to muster 60 votes — enough to stop a filibuster — to get anything done. It's an example of the vast power placed in the office of the speaker, who sets the agenda for the 435-member House. Members can force a vote if enough of them sign a petition, but that's a rarity because it requires rank-and-file Democrats to line up against their boss. In this case, Pelosi is going against a rising tide of public opinion. Faced with rapidly increasing gasoline prices, 73 percent of Americans now favor offshore drilling, according to a poll conducted by CNN/Opinion Research Corp.