Will Energy Bills Survive Reid's Lame Duck?

Harry Reid says he will look into scheduling votes on a series of modest energy proposals. But considering his record, the bills' chances don't look good.

Harry Reid says he’s going to see what’s “doable” before committing to scheduling lame-duck votes on an assortment of modest energy proposals.

Figuring out what’s “doable” is Reid-speak for doing nothing. It would be a fitting end for a 111th Congress in which both sides of the aisle set a marker for bollixing up the works when it came to energy – the Democrats with their incompetent leadership at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and the Republicans with little to contribute except their mindless “drill, baby, drill” slogan.

In a rational environment where lawmakers negotiate their differences and attempt to govern, there shouldn’t be any showstoppers with the small-potatoes bills on offer this week – for examples, rebates for blowing more insulation into homes and extension of renewable energy manufacturing tax credits.

The lame-duck session, however, is shaping up to be an irrational environment. Republicans, fortified by Tea Partiers test-driving an infallibility complex, are not inclined to give the bumbling, horsewhipped Democrats so much as a ham sandwich, let alone support for a handful of energy bills.

Count us surprised if even one of those bills passes before the 111th Congress flickers out.