Sen. Harry Reid, Bill Killer

Sen. Harry Reid has always reminded me of a mortician. Perhaps it's all his talk about every Republican bill being "dead on arrival" in the Senate. It's hard to reconcile Reid's language of killing bills -- and his act of tabling the Boehner bill last night -- with what Reid said earlier in the day:

• "Time is short, and too much is at stake to waste even one more minute."
• ”We have hours - I repeat, hours - to act.hat is why, by the end of the day today, I must take action...”

Or what he said the day before:

• "The bottom line though is this. There's only one bill in Congress that is a true compromise. We're running out of time."

Or what Reid said last week:

“Time is of the essence. We are running out of time…”

Odd, when he tabled the Boehner bill he didn't seem in any hurry.

The most maddening aspect of Reid tabling the Boehner bill is that it deprived the country of an opportunity to watch Democrats go on the record.  Give the bill an up or down vote so that we can know with certainty which Democrats will not support a balanced budget amendment and draft candidates to replace them.

U.S. Senators Are Left Behind In Reiding Class

Does Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid think we are idiots? He certainly behaves like United States Senators are remedial readers. Here's what Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell had to say in a press release issued earlier today:

Thursday, December 17, 2009

‘And here’s the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen. That’s right. The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor. It’s the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private’

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor Thursday regarding the importance of getting it right on health care reform:

“Senators on both sides acknowledge that the health care bill we’re considering is among the most significant pieces of legislation any of us will ever consider.

“So it stands to reason that we’d devote significant time and attention to it.

“Indeed, some would argue that we should spend more time and attention on this bill than most — if not every — previous bill we’ve considered.

“The Majority disagrees.

“Why? Because this bill has become a political nightmare for them.

“They know Americans overwhelmingly oppose it, so they want to get it over with.

“Americans are already outraged at the fact that Democrat leaders took their eyes off the ball. Rushing the process on a partisan line makes the situation even worse.

“Americans were told the purpose of reform was to reduce the cost of health care.

“Instead, Democrat leaders produced a $2.5 trillion, 2,074-page monstrosity that vastly expands government, raises taxes, raises premiums, and wrecks Medicare.

“And they want to rush this bill through by Christmas — one of the most significant, far-reaching pieces of legislation in U.S. history. They want to rush it.

“And here’s the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen.

“That’s right. The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor. It’s the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private.

“That’s what they intend to bring to the floor and force a vote on before Christmas.

“So this entire process is essentially a charade.

“But let’s just compare the process so far with previous legislation for some perspective. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve done and where we stand:

• The Majority Leader intends to bring this debate to a close as early as this weekend — four days from now, on this $2.5 trillion dollar mistake

• No American who hasn’t been invited into the Majority Leader’s conference room knows what will be in that bill

• This bill has been the pending business of the Senate since the last week of November — less than four weeks ago.

• We started the amendment process two weeks ago.

• We’ve had 21 amendments and motions — less than two a day.

“Now let’s look at how the Senate has dealt with previous legislation.

“No Child Left Behind (2001):

• 21 session days or 7 weeks.

• Roll Call votes: 44

• Number of Amendments offered: 157

“9/11 Commission/Homeland Security Act (2002):

• 19 session days over 7 weeks.

• Roll Call votes: 20

• Number of Amendments offered: 30

“Energy Bill (2002):

• 21 session days over 8 weeks

• Number of Roll Call votes: 36

• Number of Amendments offered: 158

“This isn’t an energy bill. This is an attempt by a majority to take over one sixth of the U.S. economy — to vastly expand the reach and the role of government into the health care decisions of every single American — and they want to be done after one substantive amendment. This is absolutely inexcusable.

“I think Senator Snowe put it best on Tuesday:

‘Given the enormity and complexity,’ she said, ‘I don’t see anything magical about the Christmas deadline if this bill is going to become law in 2014.’

“And I think Senator Snowe’s comments on a lack of bipartisanship at the outset of this debate are also right on point.

“Here’s what she said in late November:

‘I am truly disappointed we are commencing our historic debate on one of the most significant and pressing domestic issues of our time with a process that has forestalled our ability to arrive at broader agreement on some of the most crucial elements of health care reform. The bottom line is, the most consequential health care legislation in the history of our country and the reordering of $33 trillion in health care spending over the coming decade shouldn’t be determined by one vote-margin strategies – surely we can and must do better.’

“The only conceivable justification for rushing this bill is the overwhelming opposition of the American people. Democrats know that the longer Americans see this bill the less they like it. Here’s the latest from Pew. It came out just yesterday.

“A majority (58 percent) of those who have heard a lot about the bills oppose them while only 32 percent favor them.”

“There is no justification for this blind rush — except a political one, and that’s not good enough for the American people.

“And there’s no justification for forcing the Senate to vote on a bill none of us has seen.

“Americans already oppose this bill. The process is just as bad.

“It’s completely reckless, completely irresponsible.”
Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

It's "President McCain", According To Harry Reid

Fox News has now reported the remarks of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who acknowledged that McCain has already won the election today:

The slip came after he aggressively linked the Republican presidential nominee to the sitting President Bush, and suggested McCain would be a reckless commander in chief.

“We live in a dangerous and unpredictable world,” Reid said in an address on the Senate floor. “Our dangerous world calls for leaders with sound judgment, not those with a temperament prone to recklessness. … Will we stick with the same failed, out-of-touch foreign policy of George Bush, Dick Cheney and John McCain, which military experts and countless authors call the worst foreign policy in our nation’s history?”

But then Reid got a bit ahead of himself, as he began to describe Obama’s foreign policy toward Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

“President McCain even called the Obama approach naive,” Reid said.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

Harry Reid's Hypocrisy

Harry Reid took to the Senate floor this morning and oozed his usual unctuousness: “I will never come to the Senate or anyplace else and denigrate my job and those of my 99 colleagues.”

Right. Reid is getting on in years, but still he must recall those many occasions in the not so distant past when he did denigrate not only his Senate colleagues but the very institution in which they serve.

Like on December 18, 2005, when Reid called the Republican-led Senate: “the most corrupt Congress in the history of this country."

Former Senator Bill Frist led Republicans at the time. Most Republicans would agree that current Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has been much more effective at out-foxing Reid than was Frist. Nonetheless, Frist is widely regarded as a decent man who loves is country. So Reid's description of Frist rings particularly hollow. According to Reid, Frist had "no institutional integrity.”

Reid's disdain for the Senate and his colleagues has been a recurring them of his oratory. Like on on September 18, 2006, when Reid declared: "This Congress has failed.”

Or two days later, when Reid characterized the greatest deliberative body in the world as the “Do-Nothing Congress:”

Then on December 4, 2007 Reid described his Republican opponents as “49 puppets he [President Bush] has here in the Senate.” (Doubtless President Bush read that description and thought, "I wish!")

It seems that no one told Reid that the Democrats' theme for this election cycle is "post-partisan." To the contrary, Reid's vitriol is hyper-partisan. Reid's comments, moreover, suggest that his tenure as Democratic Senate Leader will be short-lived, should Barack Obama actually manage to win the White House, because Reid has yet to master the platitudes of "hope" and "change" that now pass for policy among "progressives."

Reid conducts himself as if he was still battling the mafia in the Nevada Gaming Commission. Memo to Reid: you can stop checking for car bombs. And you can stop throwing rhetorical bombs.

McConnell Wins on Stimulus Package

The Senate Democrats have folded -- again. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has out-maneuvered Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid to pass the stimulus package that the House previously had passed with bipartisan support. That means that Americans will get the help they need without all the goodies for illegal aliens and the like that the Senate Democrats had tried to add.

Nor can McConnell be blamed for "obstructing" anything. After all, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed McConnell's approach to the stimulus package, which would add rebates for disabled veterans, widows and the elderly, but not illegal immigrants. Pelosi, however, was silent on all the add-ons that Reid proposed. Notwithstanding Reid's attempt to play Santa, bipartisan cooperation prevailed as a direct result of McConnell's and Pelosi's leadership, and now Americans can get their rebate checks in a timely manner.

What the Dems Call Leadership

Here's a video that sums up Mama Pelosi and Dingy Harry's stint at "leading" Congress.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2M5YjBlODkyYzQxMWQ0NzkwMzhmMWVjNzZhNzg2YzM

They've had their chance. Now it's time to give Congress back to the grown-ups.

Dems Too Busy For God and Country

Now we know how the Democrats could whisk the Senate through its 30 second "pro forma" sessions -- their tactic to prevent the president from making any recess appointments over the Thanksgiving and August breaks.

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), who presided over the Potemkin session, skipped the opening prayer. And he skipped the Pledge of Allegiance. See for yourself.

I was shocked, at first. But upon further reflection, the failure to open with prayer and the Pledge is consistent with the Democrats' values. Many are secular relativists who revile people of faith. Likewise, Democrats are prone to blame America for every evil, and display a weird need to be liked by the rest of the world, even by those who want to destroy our country.

In short, they are people who regard rituals of worship and patriotism as corny, at best -- mere wastes of time.