Mike Madden has a report in today's edition of the Argus Leader about Tom Daschle's desperate ploy yesterday to salvage his reputation as a champion of ethanol: "Ethanol measure discarded." Excerpt:
South Dakota politics loomed large over the Senate floor Thursday. Since last summer, Daschle has featured his support for ethanol in his television ad campaign. Republicans blasted him last fall, when the energy bill failed to pass, saying the Democratic leader hadn't done enough to bring members of his caucus on board.
The Washington Post has a similar report headlined "Bid to Revive Energy Legislation Via Unrelated Bill Fails in Senate." Excerpt:
Daschle has championed ethanol both in the Senate and in his close election battle against former House member John Thune (R) in corn-producing South Dakota. Although he lost the vote on his proposal, it enabled him to blame Republicans for its failure. And he was quick to do so, accusing GOP senators of squandering an opportunity to boost the rural American economy and "send a powerful message to the Persian Gulf oil producers who are intent on driving up American gasoline prices."
No, Tom Daschle squandered an opportunity last fall, when the energy bill with the ethanol provisions only needed Senate passage to become law. (If the energy bill had passed the Senate today, it would not have passed in the House because the bill lacks a provision giving MTBE manufacturers immunity from lawsuits.) Instead of gathering two more votes from the caucus he leads, Dashle went out and signed copies of his book.
At the time, Senator Chuck Grassley, also a champion of ethanol, took Tom Daschle to the woodshed for not wielding his purported clout to pass the energy bill. It is interesting to note that Chuck Grassley did not support Tom Daschle's ethanol amendment yesterday, voting to reject the motion for cloture.
It is also interesting to note that Tom Daschle wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal last October, confidently predicting that the ethanol provision would pass on its own. That certainly didn't happen yesterday. It wasn't even close. It leads one to believe that Tom Daschle is better at empty political posturing than delivering for South Dakota.
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