House Republicans have spent the first quarter of 2011 rolling back the Obama Administration’s policies of the past two years. The Continuing Resolution debate is about bringing spending back to 2008 levels—Obama and Democrats raised spending 29 percent in two years. Legislation was introduced and passed to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from backdooring cap-and-trade, prevent the Federal Communications Commission from regulating the internet, and stop the National Mediation Board from facilitating unionization in the transportation industry.
House Republicans have now set their sights on Obama’s Department of the Interior (DOI). Like keeping medicine from a sick patient, DOI has revoked drilling permits while gas prices skyrocket and the region sheds jobs. Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash) introduced a trio of bills to remedy this problem and end the defacto moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico, auction offshore leases, and lift the President’s ban on new offshore development.
