What's missing?

I'm thrilled that after passing in the House, the Senate rejected the bill that would have opened up oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Thank goodness.

That said, what exactly are the republicans missing about the oil issue? They keep pointing to this as something vital to national security. Here's an idea - why don't we try reducing the amount of dependency we have on oil altogether - both foreign and domestic? Oh wait - we're already doing that in some ways, such as moving toward more hybrid vehicles and working on alternative sources of fuel. And here's the very obvious beauty in that approach: we don't have to depend on foreign countries to keep us running and we don't have to disturb a pristine area.

I know, I know - the national security slant is just something to get people to rally behind the bill. But still - are people really buying that? I guess they must be, which is so disappointing.

Another thing that bugs me about this bill (among other bills) is the way a bazillion unrelated things get mashed together to be passed all at once. For example, this bill included money for hurricane victims, help for low-income families, and money for troops in Iraq. What exactly do those things have to do with drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Nothing, except supposedly money garnered from the drilling would go to support those additional items. Somehow, I think we can figure out how to address those other issues without oil.

Anyway, you can bet that when elections roll around again, democrats who voted against the bill will be burned at the stake because they voted against helping hurricane victims or something stupid like that. It's so frustrating. I wish that there was more political middle ground to grab a hold of right now.