Editorial: Power politics replaces merit

Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005 | 8:58 a.m.

The Senate has inherited a defense spending bill from the House that is unconscionable because it includes a provision wholly unrelated to funding our military forces. If it passes, the bill would also authorize drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., an opponent of drilling in the refuge, says the House's action violates a congressional rule that prohibits unrelated bills from being wedded at the last minute. The reason for the rule is clear. Now, senators opposed to the drilling cannot vote against it without inviting charges that they do not support our fighting troops.

The defense bill also contains previously agreed upon money for Hurricane Katrina relief, putting senators who oppose the drilling in a doubly difficult situation.

The Senate is likely to vote on Wednesday. There will be a motion to separate the drilling issue from the defense spending bill. If it doesn't pass, we would support a filibuster by the drilling opponents. The drilling authorization has for years been blocked on sound environmental grounds.

This latest attempt at passage is a raw political move engineered by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, one of that body's most powerful members. It would be a travesty for a bill long rejected on its merits to pass as the result of a political power play.