House Gets Busy Over the Weekend
A flurry of legislative activity over the weekend left a mixed bag of progress and surrender. While the House voted to require clean-energy standards for the first time and cut oil industry tax breaks, enough Democrats caved to the White House to pass the president's preferred FISA rule changes.A flurry of legislative activity over the weekend left a mixed bag of progress and surrender. While the House voted to require clean-energy standards for the first time and cut oil industry tax breaks, enough Democrats caved to the White House to pass the president’s preferred FISA rule changes.
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…L.A. Times:
Pushing to chart a new national energy policy, House Democrats on Saturday passed legislation that would require the nation’s utilities to generate more electricity from clean-energy sources, such as the wind and the sun.
And in another indicator of the changed political landscape on Capitol Hill, they stripped the oil and gas industries of $16 billion in tax incentives and voted to apply those tax breaks to efforts to spur production of cleaner forms of energy.
The energy measures passed in a final burst of activity before lawmakers were to adjourn for their summer recess this weekend.
Late Saturday, the House also modified the Foreign Intelligence Services Act. The changes, a concession to the White House that was strongly opposed by liberal Democrats, would expand the authority of U.S. spy agencies to monitor overseas phone calls and e-mails. The measure passed 227 to 183 — with Republicans providing 186 of the “yes” votes.
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