Senate extends Patriot Act, stalls Arctic oil drilling effort (KR wrap up)

By James Kuhnhenn
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday stalled a plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, agreed to extend the life of the Patriot Act and passed nearly $40 billion in spending reductions in a furious pre-Christmas finish marked by testy floor debate and a rare tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The end of year scrambling brought an ambiguous conclusion to Democrats and Republicans, who engaged in partisan brinkmanship to the very end over oil drilling and renewal of the Patriot Act, the post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism law that expanded police powers to wiretap and obtain private records.

Yet while the Senate split largely along partisan lines, the defection of a handful of maverick Republicans on each contested issue underscored how much difficulty President Bush now has holding his party's lawmakers in lockstep, which was the key to his success in Congress during his first term.

Losing the Alaska-drilling provision was a significant defeat for the Bush administration, which has made expanding oil exploration a centerpiece of its energy policy. It also was a personal blow to Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the 82-year-old president pro tempore of the Senate who's battled to open the refuge to oil companies for 25 years.

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for all time. Bush did get to cut benefits to the needy poor. Isn't that enough for the Grinch?

If one has a belief in the intelligence and integrity of American scientists, they know the scientists can move on and leave fossil fuel as ancient as was kerosene oil to light houses. A few tax breaks would be nice.

It's time we move on to other energy sources

:thumbsup: