...cause they are so back in!
You can’t blame the Republicans for this. They are ruthless pricks and they get the democrats on their knees and keep them groveling there, no matter if they are in the minority or the majority. When the dems held the minority spot, we can all recall how the Republicans screamed and yelled and went all over the media with their fists pumping and their little purple faces “OBSTRUCTIONISTS!” “FILLIBUSTERS WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE USED!” “NUCLEAR OPTIONS!”
What do the dems do when the Republicans become the minority and tell them to get on their knees and pray for scraps?
Nothing. And you certainly hear no talk about filibusters being dirty tricks and unconstitutional from their little message board minions, who spoke of nothing else only recently! I know, amnesia.
December 12, 2007
CONGRESSIONAL MEMO
Muscle Flexing in Senate: G.O.P. Defends Strategy
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
WASHINGTON —Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, operates with near-robotic efficiency when it comes to negotiating budget figures in public, consistently refusing to answer questions that would ever commit him to a specific number at the bargaining table.
So it was more than a little telling when Mr. McConnell laid down his mark in the current budget fight on Tuesday, informing the Capitol Hill press corps that he was ready to offer Democrats a deal, $70 billion in war financing with no strings attached and a total budget identical to President Bush’s proposal.
In other words, the Republicans should get virtually everything they want. And he was not kidding.
With the president warning repeatedly that he will veto any budget package he dislikes and the Democrats short of the 60 votes they need in the Senate, the Republican minority is in an unusually strong bargaining position — and not just in the budget negotiations that are the top priority in Congress these days.
Mr. McConnell and his fellow Republicans are playing such tight defense, blocking nearly every bill proposed by the slim Democratic majority that they are increasingly able to dictate what they want, much to the dismay of the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, and frustrated Democrats in the House.
In fact, the Senate Republicans are so accustomed to blocking measures that when the Democrats finally agreed last week to their demands on a bill to repair the alternative minimum tax, the Republicans still objected, briefly blocking the version of the bill that they wanted before scrambling to approve it later.
For the Democrats, it was a perfect example of why they have taken to calling the G.O.P. the “grand obstructionist party.” The Democrats send out daily tallies of the number of Republican filibusters, which the Democrats say will set a record.
It also explains why so little is getting
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/washington/12cong.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
You can’t blame the Republicans for this. They are ruthless pricks and they get the democrats on their knees and keep them groveling there, no matter if they are in the minority or the majority. When the dems held the minority spot, we can all recall how the Republicans screamed and yelled and went all over the media with their fists pumping and their little purple faces “OBSTRUCTIONISTS!” “FILLIBUSTERS WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE USED!” “NUCLEAR OPTIONS!”
What do the dems do when the Republicans become the minority and tell them to get on their knees and pray for scraps?
Nothing. And you certainly hear no talk about filibusters being dirty tricks and unconstitutional from their little message board minions, who spoke of nothing else only recently! I know, amnesia.
December 12, 2007
CONGRESSIONAL MEMO
Muscle Flexing in Senate: G.O.P. Defends Strategy
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
WASHINGTON —Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, operates with near-robotic efficiency when it comes to negotiating budget figures in public, consistently refusing to answer questions that would ever commit him to a specific number at the bargaining table.
So it was more than a little telling when Mr. McConnell laid down his mark in the current budget fight on Tuesday, informing the Capitol Hill press corps that he was ready to offer Democrats a deal, $70 billion in war financing with no strings attached and a total budget identical to President Bush’s proposal.
In other words, the Republicans should get virtually everything they want. And he was not kidding.
With the president warning repeatedly that he will veto any budget package he dislikes and the Democrats short of the 60 votes they need in the Senate, the Republican minority is in an unusually strong bargaining position — and not just in the budget negotiations that are the top priority in Congress these days.
Mr. McConnell and his fellow Republicans are playing such tight defense, blocking nearly every bill proposed by the slim Democratic majority that they are increasingly able to dictate what they want, much to the dismay of the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, and frustrated Democrats in the House.
In fact, the Senate Republicans are so accustomed to blocking measures that when the Democrats finally agreed last week to their demands on a bill to repair the alternative minimum tax, the Republicans still objected, briefly blocking the version of the bill that they wanted before scrambling to approve it later.
For the Democrats, it was a perfect example of why they have taken to calling the G.O.P. the “grand obstructionist party.” The Democrats send out daily tallies of the number of Republican filibusters, which the Democrats say will set a record.
It also explains why so little is getting
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/washington/12cong.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
