Shadow Government
by digby
Let's air our dirty laundry all over the world, shall we?
House Republicans are preparing for a trip to Copenhagen and looking to derail Democratic efforts to negotiate an international climate agreement.
About a half-dozen Republicans will make the trip to Denmark to oppose plans for cap-and-trade legislation, express their discontent with the scientific community that researches climate change and call for the United Nations to halt any negotiations until the academic scandal known as “Climategate” is resolved.
At least Texas Rep. Joe Barton, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along with Republican Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, Darrell Issa of California and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee are making the trip.
House Republican leaders Tuesday laid out their plans for the U.N. climate conference, which will be to essentially buck all Democratic climate-change platforms.
Republicans plan to highlight the leaked e-mails that allegedly show countervailing research was suppressed to undermine the theory of climate change. And they are arguing that Democratic emissions trading “cap and trade” legislation does not have the widespread support of the American people.
“In the worst recession in 26 years, in the midst of an academic scandal and questionable science revealed in ‘Climategate’ and in the absence of a national consensus about policies that would bear upon the category known as climate change, we gather here to say, Mr. President, don’t make promises in Copenhagen that we cant keep,” said House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana.
President Barack Obama, Pence added, should refrain from negotiating treaties “in the absence of a national consensus.”
The constitution is pretty clear on how this treaty thing works. The president negotiates them. Then the Senate ratifies them. If there's no "consensus" then presumably they won't do that. It's called representative democracy and it's the way we've been doing things for a long time here in the US.
I don't think I've ever heard of a group of political opponents going to a foreign country to confront the president when he's representing the nation. It's kind of startling. I'm not a big fan of the rules that call for royal deference to presidents, but you do have to let the country speak with one voice in certain situations, and the constitution anticipates that when it comes to dealing with foreign governments that voice should be the president's subject to ratification by the people's representatives. To personally go to Copenhagen and publicly argue with the president as he's negotiating a treaty is truly radical.
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