House GOP to Resume Energy Debate on Monday

I'm beginning to get a warm feeling about the GOP once again, something I haven't felt for a long time. Friday's energy protest following the adjourment of Congress (without doing anything about energy) was a masterstroke, and the architects of that little uprising are returning to the floor on Monday to continue:

Continuing with their guerilla tactics from last week, House Republicans will be back on the floor Monday to talk gas prices, even though Congress is in recess, and they may stay there all week.

More than a dozen Republicans have already committed to make appearances, according to House GOP leadership aide, including National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Ga.).

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who lead Friday's five-hour talkathon after the House shut down for the August recess, are also expected to be there, according to this aide.

"In an urgent memo sent to GOP Members and staff Saturday (“A Call to Action on American Energy”), Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) hailed Friday’s action, which was led by Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), Tom Price (R-GA), and others, and encouraged House Republicans to return to the Capitol beginning Monday morning to help keep the historic effort going," said a press release just released by Minority Leader Boehner's office.

“It’s not a request we make lightly. But the American people are suffering,” Boehner and Blunt said in the memo. “The consequences of continued congressional inaction on gas prices are unacceptable. We’ve called on the Speaker to call Congress back into an emergency session this month and schedule a vote on the American Energy Act. We must continue to make a stand until the Speaker complies.”

The session will not be televised, since C-Span does not control the cameras inside the House chamber. Rather, those come under the purview of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats, and they're unlikely to do anything to help Republicans.

But Republicans felt they got a lot of good press out of Friday's "revolt," so they will be back at it again, and younger GOP lawmakers were clearly energized by the tactic, something not evident among Republicans for most of the 110th Congress.

Pelosi was grilled by host George Stephanopolous on ABC's "This Week" over her refusal to allow an offshore oil drilling vote on the floor before the House adjourned for the five-week August recess, but Pelosi was having none of it.

"What you saw in the Congress this week was the war dance of the hand maidens of the oil companies," Pelosi said. That's what you saw on the Republican side of the aisle."

Keep talking, Nancy. You've still got 9 points you can give up on your approval rating. And you know if any Republican used the term "war dance", it would be considered racist and offensive.

The rules of the House don't allow for cameras on the floor or in the House chamber (except for those from C-SPAN), but rules be damned. Somebody needs to get some good video footage of Monday's speeches and audience response (there will be tourists there, if nothing else), and if Pelosi wants to try and have them thrown out, it's time for a little civil disobedience. The left has been using that tactic for years and it's time the GOP learned how to do it. With 70% of voters in favor of increased drilling, the spectacle of Capitol Hill cops shutting down a debate on the House floor would only energize the voters even more.

I think it might be time to shut down Punish the GOP. We'll see how they do on Monday.