ANWR Is Not the Answer | Ari Berman

The Nation | Blog | The Daily Outrage | ANWR Is Not the Answer | Ari Berman: "Republicans have shrewdly attached the ANWR proposal to Bush's $2.6 trillion 2006 budget bill, which cannot be filibustered and requires only a majority of Senators for passage. In March 2003 Democrats and moderate Republicans blocked the same tactic by a slim 52-48 vote. But an expanded Republican majority has unfortunately improved the provision's prospects. Last Thursday the Senate Budget Committee upheld the ANWR amendment on a 12-10 party line vote. 'We're a few votes short of what we need,' Senator Barbara Boxer told Reuters. 'We're hanging by a thread here.' The Senate could approve Bush's budget--and the ANWR drilling--later this week."