The Hill:
The Senate will vote again Thursday on a plan to strip a major ethanol industry tax break and end the ethanol import tariff.
Forty senators voted for the measure Tuesday, well shy of the 60 votes needed to advance the plan, when Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) offered it as an amendment to an economic development bill.
But the politics of Tuesday’s battle were clouded by Democratic anger at Coburn’s surprise procedural move last week that set up the vote.
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday evening that the Senate would vote on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) identical version of the amendment tomorrow.
Lawmakers will then vote on Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) amendment that would block use of federal funds for the construction of ethanol blender pumps or storage facilities. Both will need 60 votes to pass.
Feinstein said on the floor Tuesday that the plan Coburn offered would have been successful absent the controversy over his procedural tactics.
“I believe if it weren’t for the process, we would have 60 votes,” Feinstein said. Democratic leadership had whipped against Coburn's amendment.
...
That seems rather petulant and childish on the part of the Democrats, but I have come to expect it of them. Hopefully the bills will pass and we can reintroduce more market forces into the energy business.
Image via Wikipedia
Comments
Post a Comment