Cheney stands ground in meeting over price caps

From Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Dick Cheney defended the administration's opposition to price controls Tuesday at a Capitol Hill meeting with members of the California congressional delegation.

Democrats, who said they told the vice president Californians are victims of price gouging, criticized Cheney after the hour-long meeting, complaining he said nothing that will help Western consumers hard-hit by high energy prices.

"I am deeply, deeply disappointed," Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-California, told reporters after the meeting. "This meeting is the equivalent to the photo op visit the president made to California."

IN-DEPTH SPECIAL The energy crunch in California   MESSAGE BOARD Power crisis   ALSO Armey apologizes to Watts for hearing remarks

Eshoo said the vice president "didn't give an inch" when pressed to order the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to regulate wholesale electricity prices in California.

Cheney reportedly told the group that government-mandated price controls would artificially reduce the much-needed electricity supply in California.

"The vice president kept saying that our plea for cost-based rates in this emergency would produce not one kilowatt," said Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of San Diego. "Well, the governor is doing everything he can do to raise capacity. We have 12 plants on line, and we just met the 10 percent conservation goal. We need action on the prices. That's what we need now. This is an emergency that threatens to bring the California economy and the national economy under.

"But the vice president didn't seem to understand a word we said," Filner sighed.

Several Republicans in the California delegation, some of whom support the imposition of price controls, described the vice president as "cordial" and "helpful" but made note of the "deep philosophical differences" between many Republicans and Democrats on these issues.

The ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman, who is leading an effort to move a price caps bill directly to the floor for a vote, contended Cheney was not interested in the views of the Democrats.

"It was clear he had his mind made up before he entered the room. Whatever we said wasn't going to change that preconceived view. He started out by saying he wanted to help California but then laid out no proposal to help our state," Waxman said. "What many of us expressed over and over again is that we need federal help right now in order to increase the supply if we put cost reimbursement limits on wholesale prices.

"The vice president did not respond favorably about this. He just was adamant about it."

The meeting was attended by 41 members of California's delegation, both Democrats and Republicans, including the state's two Democratic senators.

Rep. Sam Farr, D-California, said there was bipartisan support in the delegation for increasing the federal government's conservation efforts in California and having the administration reconsider its decision Tuesday to deny California a waiver that would have freed the state from requiring clean-burning gasoline in its vehicles.

Complaints about the waiver denial were pressed by the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Bill Thomas, according to several participants.

Congress will hold two key hearings on the energy crisis Wednesday. In the Senate, Democrat Joe Lieberman, who chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee, will begin a series of hearings into the price increases. And on the House side, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham will testify on President Bush's comprehensive energy proposal before the Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on energy.

Cheney did not make himself available for comments after the meeting.