House Republican leader rips Bush

A House Republican leader is lambasting President Bush on his decision not to call Congress back into session to deal with the energy crisis.

In a legislative update sent to GOP members and staff on Tuesday, Republican House Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.) accused "Beijing George" Bush of throwing House Republicans "under the bone-dry bus" on his way to the Olympics in China.

{mosads}House GOP leaders last week called on Bush to convene an emergency session ofCongress, but the White House said such a move would not make a difference because Democrats would not call for an up-or-down vote on offshore drilling legislation.

McCotter, known for his frank and sometimes unusual political opinions, was not pleased with that decision. His memo stated, "Today, in his final term, the wildly unpopular President George W. Bush boarded Air Force One bound for the Beijing Olympics and a meeting with his chum Hu Jintao, the dapper ruler of a nuclear armed, communist dictatorship. … Perhaps our Compassionate Conservative-in-Chief will bring our absent Democrat Congress some 'Made in (communist) China' souvenir t-shirts: 'Bush went to Beijing and all I got was this lousy five week, paid vacation.' "

The memo ends, "Bon Voyage, Mr. Bush! House Republicans will fight on for America!"

Asked for comment, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, "Let me be very clear: we support what the House Republicans are doing.  They are doing the right thing by shining a light on this issue. There should be no mistake about that. Unfortunately, simply calling Congress into session isn't going to guarantee that Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] will give a vote on the bill.

"Democratic leaders need to hear from their constituents,  from the American people,  who support expanding domestic drilling by overwhelming majorities. We want clean votes on these issues, and the best way for that to happen is if Democrats bring up a bill that addresses these issues,  like the Interior appropriations bill. If congressional Democrats listen to their constituents, they will put these issues on the floor for votes when they return."