Partisan Give and Take by Republicans

When it comes to passing Transportation Bill or insisting on the Keystone XL Pipeline, Senate Republicans are refraining from sinking the transportation bill by insisting it be included in final passage. Several key GOP members huddled on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the issue.  Congressman Upton said the meeting was a starting point for establishing a cogent strategy for Keystone supporters. "We were talking about the highway bill, starting discussions to see what we can figure out," Upton said. "Keystone is a priority for the House, period. So we're going to do all that we can to get it included as part of the package. But it's difficult to say how things are going to work out until we really start talking. And that's what we've gone to do." 

The Energy Department’s loan guarantee program (code word Solyndra) will be back in the cross-hairs of Capitol Hill Republicans on Wednesday.  A House Oversight and Government Reform Committee panel will convene a hearing with a title that advertises the lawmakers’ questions: “The Obama Administration’s Green Energy Gamble: What Have All The Taxpayer Subsidies Achieved?”  It will feature top execs from several green-energy companies — such as BrightSource Energy and Abound Solar that have hit financial headwinds ranging from layoffs to a canceled IPO.  Solyndra, the loaded mantra of Republicans, willl be used to launch wider attacks on White House green-energy programs.   “This administration’s Department of Energy continues to make reckless bets with taxpayer funds followed by deceptive claims about the program’s effects on job creation, or lack thereof. This hearing will explain what recipients of billions of dollars of taxpayer funds are doing with the money and the risks associated with DOE’s irresponsible gamble,” said a spokeswoman for Issa.