Support for the energy bill from Daschle and other farm belt Democrats was bought by mandating a doubling of ethanol production in the next 10 years. This puts the federal government solidly athwart the market in dictating nationwide use of the corn-based fuel.
Addressing the Senate after Friday's failed cloture vote, Daschle upbraided DeLay for going one step too far. The Republican leader added an amendment that throws out a lawsuit filed by New Hampshire against oil and chemical manufacturers of MTBE (alleging that the fuel additive has tainted underground water supplies in the Northeast). Opposition by five Republican senators from New England killed cloture on Friday.
Daschle seemed oblivious to what a monstrosity the energy bill would still be, even without the MTBE provision. So were Frist and nearly all Republican senators. Sen. John McCain took the Senate floor last Wednesday to assail the energy bill with the trademark criticism that often offends his colleagues: "I fear for the passage of a 1,200-page, pork-laden bill. The outbreak of Washington trichinosis will be so severe we will be forced to have a field office for the Centers for Disease Control right next to the Capitol."
McCain was the only Republican senator outside New England to vote against cloture Friday. He is one of the very few senators of either party who, apart from partisan considerations, object to today's degrading legislative process. McCain says the energy bill should be called the "Leave No Lobbyist Behind Act of 2003." Brushing themselves off after their defeat on the energy bill, the lobbyists were back at work over the weekend seeking a new venue for pork.