Review-Journal: Porter, Heller Join Protest Over Energy
August 11, 2008
Try to say it fast three times: Summer shadow session. Summer shadow session. Summer shadow session.
Tough, isn’t it?
If Capitol Hill ever is sleepy, it is during the annual August recess, when the men and women of Congress are far away, skeleton-crew staffers wear shorts and flip-flops, and lunches off campus at Tortilla Coast and Bullfeathers are consumed at much leisure.
Not so for everyone last week. Even though Congress was out of session, small bands of Republicans commandeered the House floor each day for speeches to protest inaction on high energy prices.
The lights in the chamber were dimmed, and C-SPAN wasn’t filming because the cable network is not allowed to broadcast the floor when the House is out of session. So the Republicans’ audience consisted of their own staffers, a handful of reporters, and tourists who were given a rare opportunity to fill the floor seats.
Their target was Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who they accused of callousness for allowing the Democrat-led House to leave for a five-week recess without passing an energy bill to address $4-a-gallon gasoline.
They challenged Pelosi to call the House back into session and vote on bills expanding offshore oil drilling, the GOP-favored response. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., called it a “shadow debate.”
Nevada Republicans Dean Heller and Jon Porter returned to Washington last week after party leaders sent out a memo urging, “Let’s keep the floor protest going!”
In his presentation, Heller charged that energy prices were hurting rural ranchers. Porter warned that “the lights are starting to dim” in Las Vegas.
Democrats said the GOP’s summer session was no more than an election-year sideshow.
“I want to work across the aisle, but Jon apparently believes that participating in a partisan stunt is enough to fix the problem,” said Porter’s Democratic opponent, state Sen. Dina Titus. “I don’t think it will solve any problem.”
MoveOn.org demonstrated Thursday outside Porter’s office in Henderson and ran radio ads in Las Vegas inquiring, “Why is Jon Porter grandstanding in Congress instead of working toward real solutions to high gas prices?”
“When they mobilize MoveOn.org, that means (Democrats) are worried,” Porter responded.
Back on Capitol Hill, Republicans did not monopolize the theatrics.
Taking their cue from reports that Republican leader John Boehner had been back home in Ohio playing golf during the week, eight Democratic interns and staffers chanted near the Capitol steps on Friday carrying posters and dressed in classic golf gear.
The men: plaid pants, sweater vests and caps. The women: pink polos.
“We are the party, the Golf and Oil Party!” they chanted.
A tourist walked by. “You suck,” she yelled, turning her thumbs down.
“We’re hurting; they’re golfing,” one of the protesters yelled back.
