1115.org

House Republicans propose to roll up their sleeves and really go to work stalling “Henry Waxman’s ambitious climate change bill” in committee. Working in their favor is the fact that the Energy and Commerce Committee has 59 members, and many Democrats on the committee are “worried about the impact of energy proposals on hometown industries.”

Republicans don’t actually expect to stop the bill from clearing the committee. But they are evidently going to take great pleasure and pride in bogging it down for a couple of months. In Republican circles, that counts it as a huge success.

Republicans know they can’t stop Henry Waxman’s ambitious climate change bill from clearing the Energy and Commerce Committee, but they’re promising to make the ride as bumpy as possible.

They plan to nitpick the Waxman bill into legislative oblivion by introducing more than 100 amendments during the committee debate. Some of those, they hope, will lure Democrats worried about the impact of energy proposals on hometown industries.

“This is not going to be one of gentlemanly, pro forma markups,” said Texas Rep. Joe Barton, the top Republican on the committee. “We’re prepared for it to take weeks or months.”

Waxman has spent weeks convincing Southern and Midwestern Democrats to support his legislation, trying to cut deals that enable them to vote for the legislation while still satisfying constituents back home. On Tuesday, he predicted that legislation would pass the 59-member committee by the Memorial Day recess even without any Republican votes.

Waxman claims it’ll all be over in a week. Barton is promising “weeks or months.” If I were a betting gal, I’d put my money on Barton. If there’s one thing the Republicans excel at, it’s doing nothing, and trying to make sure that nobody else is able to do anything either.