Senate blocks GOP bid to speed offshore drilling

WASHINGTON — A GOP bid to expand and has­ten off­shore oil drilling in the face of $4-a-gallon gaso­line prices suf­fered an over­whelm­ing defeat in the Sen­ate on Wednes­day, four days after Pres­i­dent Barack Obama directed his admin­is­tra­tion to ramp up U.S. oil production.