Pelosi Tells Rural Oregonians to Eat Cake

Nancy Pelosi came to Portland yesterday to raise money from urban Oregonians.  But when it comes to providing rural Oregonians money via timber payments...

Pelosi, visiting Oregon Health & Science University, wasn't exactly effusive about the program, which is ending this year unless Congress renews it.  Asked about it by reporters, she tersely said, "Where we go from here is to see how to phase this system out" over the next few years.

Pelosi's leadership hasn't extended much beyond raising money for other Democratic politicians.  If she supports a phase-out of timber payments, why hasn't the House passed such a bill this year?

Wyden and Smith say they've lined up Senate support for a five-year extension but that Pelosi has prevented that bill from moving in the House. The way Senate sources tell the story is that Pelosi balked at the big price tag--which could be up to $1 billion a year nationally, depending on how you structure the program--and tends to think it mostly helps Republican districts anyway. They thought it was pretty telling that Pelosi--who also had a private chat with Gov. Ted Kulongoski about the program during her visit--didn't have a more diplomatic spiel about the program (such as saying that she wanted to do what she could to help Oregon and she understands the concerns, etc.).

DeFazio, one of the few Democrats representing a district with large amounts of federal forest land in it, has been determinedly defending Pelosi--she is his leader, after all--and he had a pretty tough public exchange with Wyden's chief of staff, Josh Kardon, about this in May.

We got the one-year extension in May after the collapse of the five-year extension referenced above.  In that "pretty tough public exchange," Kardon said the collapse was because "The House leadership chose to stand with President Bush instead of with rural counties."  DeFazio objected, pointing the blame at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (longer explanation here), whose spokesman blamed President Bush...who as we know isn't fond of timber payments. 

Bottom-line though, under Republican leadership last year and Democratic leadership this year, the Congress has failed to send a longer-term timber payments extension of any kind to President Bush for signature/veto.

Smith should have been able to use his clout to get a long-term authorization passed last year when Republicans still controlled the Senate from his perch on the Finance Committee, said DeFazio. And he also noted Wyden was on that committee as well and was the one who introduced the notion that the program would eventually wind down. "I would not say we're getting any great shakes out of the United States Senate," he said. "Rather than hearing a blame game from the Senate, I'd like to see some heavy lifting."

DeFazio, and Wu spokeswoman Jillian Schoene, both made a big deal of noting that they dealt with the issue in a House energy bill headed for a House-Senate conference while the Senate bill had nothing. But the Senate folks noted that the energy bill only contains brief mention of the program--albeit enough to potentially get it on the conference committee agenda--and that the Senate passed a comprehensive, five-year plan earlier this year.

Wyden aide Kardon, being careful not to publicly diss DeFazio, noted that "Sen. Wyden produced the only multi-year re-authorization plan that has received a vote in either House...Speaker Pelosi was being very candid (Tuesday) and that is to her credit. Despite the excellent efforts of Representative DeFazio, the House has not accepted the five-year Wyden-Reid five-year reauthorization plan"

Pelosi wasn't being candid about the phasing out of timber payments.  The payments have ended, and the legislation to create a phase-out is languishing.  This year, that can't be blamed on the Republicans.

Comments

[Thomas Ware]

Any bets the whore for the military industrial complex lives in a wood house?

Ain't nothin' east of The Rockies, or south of Weed, we need.