http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40316.html
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I hope the Democrats hold a majority in Congress so we can continue to make at least minimal progress…DV

House and Senate Democratic leaders Tuesday rolled out their big “spill bills” – the main legislative responses to the Gulf oil spill. The proposals are packed with aggressive offshore drilling reforms that Republicans have long fought and were immediately met with fierce pushback from the GOP and the oil industry.

That could make it tough to get the bills passed, especially in the Senate, where a handful of oil-state Democrats may cross the aisle to vote against the package. But strategists say the Republican “no” votes will also benefit Democrats politically – and some Republicans say that’s why the so-called poison pill provisions were included.

“If, after the worst oil spill in the history of the country, Republicans were to vote no against new offshore drilling protections – can you imagine the ads?” asked one senior Democratic aide.

Campaign strategists certainly can. “Republicans have found themselves on the defensive on that issue, and they are sitting on piles of big oil contributions,” said a Democratic strategist. “Absolutely, this is something we will be playing up before Election Day.”

Democratic campaign committees are already preparing lists of Republicans to target with ads over the August recess in the event that they vote against the oil reform package, the strategist added.

Democrats say the spill bills simply represent a robust and long-overdue effort to reform the offshore drilling industry – which hasn’t been subject to a major overhaul since 1978. And they point out that many of the core provisions have already won bipartisan support. For example, at the heart of the Senate bill are provisions to reorganize the Interior Department’s oversight of offshore drilling, co-sponsored by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and the panel’s ranking member, Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); a title to retrofit heavy vehicles to run on natural gas, co-sponsored by New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez and Utah Republican Orrin Hatch and the Homestar energy efficiency rebate program, Cash for Caulkers, co-sponsored by Bingaman and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham. The House bill includes elements of the Blowout Prevention Act, which passed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee on a unanimous vote, even drawing an “aye” from Texas Republican and BP
apologist Joe Barton.

But Republicans and the oil industry say that, in addition to those core bipartisan measures, Democrats have intentionally shoehorned provisions that are so onerous to the oil industry that Republican allies will be forced to vote no.

Special thanks to Richard Charter