vote for (some conservatives :) down ticket.
Posted on 06/30/2008 8:37:44 PM PDT by Utah Girl
There was a remarkable exchange on the floor of the Senate this past Thursday between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It offers pretty stunning evidence of how personally petty Reid is, as well as his penchant for defining “partisanship” as anything that keeps him from getting his way.
The particulars here aren’t terribly important, but what happened was this: The Senate was voting on a Medicare bill bloated with new spending. The bill was also an attempt to prevent cuts in payment rates to doctors who treat seniors on Medicare, and Democrats wanted to pay for that by taking the funds from Medicare Advantage, a private fee-for-service plan. The president would likely have vetoed the bill in its current form and Senate Republicans opposed the gutting of Medicare Advantage, so Senate Republicans blocked the bill. The trouble is that if the Senate doesn’t resolve the issue very soon, doctors will stop receiving Medicare funds. So Republicans proposed a 30-day extension to allow more time to hammer out a compromise. Democrats blocked the proposed extension. The impasse here caused Reid to go apoplectic on Mitch McConnell (I’ve highlighted the juicy parts):
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “I have said we are all here by virtue of being elected by our respective States. I had out here earlier today our Velcro chart, 79 filibusters. Is it any wonder that the House seats that came up during the off year — Hastert’s went Republican, a Republican district that went Democratic; a seat in Louisiana that was a longtime Republican seat went Democratic. Is it any wonder that the State of Mississippi sent us a Democratic House Member? It is no wonder because they see what is going on over here. . . . Mr. President, I am sure it was a Freudian slip — 59 Democrats voted for this. But next year at this time, there will be 59 Democrats at least.” (Sen. Reid, Congressional Record, S.6233, 06/26/08)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Here we are a few days before the doctors receive this unconscionable cut, and the majority is saying it is more important to play politics with this issue, to brag about the fact there are 59 Democrats who voted to go forward, to talk, of all things, during the Medicare debate about who won special elections for the House of Representatives in Illinois, Mississippi, or Louisiana. What in the world does that have to do with the subject matter?
The subject matter before us is not playing political games. . . . And the reality is that the refusal of the majority to approach this issue on a bipartisan basis, as has been typically done in the past, will lead to a Presidential veto, a reduction in the reimbursement rates for doctors, an expiration at the end of the week. There is a way forward to get back together like we have typically done on this, and that is to approve a 30-day extension.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “A veto by the President? Gee whiz, who would be afraid of him? He has a 29-percent approval rating. How in the world could anybody be afraid of him vetoing a bill? I cannot imagine why anyone would care about that. . . . I say to my friend and I say I don’t know how many people are up here for reelection, but I am watching a few of them pretty closely, I say to all these people who are up for reelection: If you think you can go home and say, I voted no because this weak President, the weakest political standing since they have done polling, I voted because I was afraid to override his veto — come on.”
There’s also a YouTube video of part of the exchange here. So basically what we see here is, yet again, Reid is not at all interested in compromise, even with the threat of a presidential veto and a deadline looming that could adversely affect the health care of ordinary citizens.
Reid has done this time and time again: notably last fall, when he refused to open the floor to votes on Republican tax cuts — even though doing so meant that, despite months of warnings, the Senate wouldn’t get around to “patching” the non-inflation-adjusted Alternative Minimum Tax so that middle-class families wouldn’t get socked with a monstrous tax bill. The AMT did eventually get patched, but — because Reid dithered after being warned for months about this problem — the IRS ended up delaying tax refunds by ten weeks because changes in the system couldn’t be processed that late.
Reid’s unbecoming tantrums also led to the embarrassing stunt in which he forced the Senate into an all-night session in a lame attempt to withdraw nearly all forces from Iraq in 120 days. He further demonstrated his pettiness by ordering the Senate into 30-second “pro forma” sessions over the holidays to keep the president from making recess appointments — this despite the fact that there was a backlog of nearly 200 appointments the Senate was basically refusing to vote on.
As for his sniffing about being afraid of Bush’s low 29-percent approval rating, Reid would do well to remember that Congress’s approval rating is currently 18.5 percent. Reid’s personal approval rating back in Nevada is 43 percent and has been as low as 32 percent, late last year. For him to ridicule the president’s low ratings is unbecoming.
Nonetheless, an unhinged and unchecked Harry Reid illustrates how dire things could become if Republicans take such a heavy electoral loss in the fall that they can no longer cobble together the 41 votes needed for a filibuster. Republicans would do well to get the message out that if you disapprove of how Congress is being run — and who doesn’t? — the lion’s share of the blame belongs to Harry Reid and the Democratic leadership’s excessive partisanship.
— Mark Hemingway is an NRO staff reporter.
— Mark Hemingway is a writer in Washington, D.C.
Reid is terrified of the MoveOn nuts.He’s always trying to prove that he’s a “fightin’ Dem!”.
The Democrats don’t want to go home for the break. With an approval rating of 11% and gas at $4.50/gal it must suck to be them.
Bump
“Never should have written that letter”.
Kudos to KY. McConnell for President
If you like $5/gal, Thank Congress in Nov.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Harry the Undertaker, you have an approval rating close to single digits, so President Bush is far more popular.
Actually, if Pres. Bush would just take some measures to show he cares more about the principles and values of his base than about “reaching out” to vicious depraved Demagogues in Congress then his popularity would bounce back above 40, at least.
OTOH, if the MSM and Demagogues had not spent years savaging this administration with so many dishonest attacks then the Bush WH would have nothing to worry about.
Thanks again, Nevada.
He belongs in a nursing home, not the Senate. Actually, 2/3s of the Senate belongs in a nursing home.
Somebody should inform him coal is not meant to be eaten or oil to be drunk. Damned old fool.
Reid, considering his position, is the most uninspiring public speaker that I’ve ever heard. In fact, “uninspiring” does him too much justice. He is simply awful. He doesn’t even try. He is awful. Ten times worse than W.
Unfortunately W dumps words out of his face in an empty monotone most of the time too, although he is much better when he goes off-script. This is the best we can do?
What the hell is wrong with this country? Now we have a hard left Socialist who has great ORATORY in front of the camera but nothing else worthwhile, in danger of taking the Presidency!
I think this will come back to by Hairy Reed on the butt.
they've been "taking it there" for years, since '67+/-....Preparation H, (they've said) really helps....but then they ENJOY it soooo much. 
If the Dems take control in Nov we will see:
$8 gas
Dow at 9000...a country in deep recession and near Depression
No oil drilling anywhere in the USA
No corrections to the AMT tax; tighter screws on middle class and working people
Higher taxes
The end of GM, Ford and Detroit
A much higher profile for the Muslims in the country
Signing on to the Kosovo Agreement limiting Greenhouse gas emissions- with a heavier burden on the USA
Signing onto the International Waters agreement where foreign countries can freely sail our inland waterways.
Pullout of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, both countries collapse under Al Queda
Recognition of dictators like Chavez, Raol Castro,Achminanut
and finally....Nuclear explosions in multiple US cities.Al Quaeda has the weapons, technology and manpower right now waiting in Canadiana nd Mexican cities and offshore..
Three new liberal SCOTUS Justices
No vocal opposition party in congress to rein in the dimRATS
Your whole way of life will be changed under the Change! banner...
This is what Reid wants...He should be dropped in the middle of Tehran wearing a Burka and no socks for his treasonous verbal assaults against the Republican party and against all Americans...
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