GOP reaches agreement on energy bill

[remfan]

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/print_story.asp?print=1&guid={EE8FC069-36D6-4BE6-98CB-BB5410FD7D41}&siteid=google

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Key congressional Republicans, after weeks of intense negotiations, have finalized a House-Senate compromise on a broad energy bill that will provide billions of dollars in incentives to energy companies, congressional sources said.

Details of the bill will be released at a news conference at 1 p.m. ET.

Only Republican members of the House-Senate conference have participated in the long-running negotiations. Democratic members have complained bitterly about being shut out of the process.

[papau]

1. GOP promises to let Dems see Energy Bill 48 hrs before final vote!

Now that is bi-partisan

allows for a lot of analysis and media.

[zbdent]

2. Maybe, but will they be arrested if they try to read it

before voting on it?

(again?)

[Voltaire99]

3. How the GOP reached agreement

Energy industry: Here is what you will do for us.

GOP: Yes, we agree.

[dArKeR]

4. Billions in tax breaks for fossil fuel; ethanol also boosted - MSGOP

http://msnbc.com/news/993612.asp?0cv=CA01

[remfan]

5. UPDATE: Dems have enough votes to filibuster & will do so

also looks as if the GOP may have been a bit premature in announcing they'd reached an agreement with themselves.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/11/14/energy.bill/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Minutes after top Republicans announced they had finally reached a deal Friday on a long-stalled comprehensive energy bill, Senate Democrats said they had the votes to filibuster the measure and would do so when it reaches the floor as early as next week.

snip

However, lingering questions over one tax proposal in the bill remained unresolved even after the announcement, according to two Republican sources. If the issues are not resolved, a planned public release of the bill Saturday could be delayed, one of the sources said.

snip

At issue in the remaining tax dispute is special treatment for a handful of builders who use environmentally-friendly construction methods.
One of those developers is building a non-profit educational rain forest project in Iowa, home state of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley.

[dusty64]

7. A release of this POS plan

on Saturday, why am I not surprised.

[sendero]

6. for the life of me...

... I cannot understand how it is in the best interests of this country to grant these huge subsidies to fossil fuel producers.

It's not like these folks have ever had a problem making a profit. Exactly what is this supposed to accomplish?

I hope the Dems just say no to this unmitigated bullsh*t. Enough is freaking enough.