Dems falling apart over Omnibus spending bill

American Thinker ^ | March 08, 2009 | Rick Moran

[neverdem]

Pass the popcorn, please. This is getting good.

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi went after each other in a closed meeting with the Democratic leadership over what to do about the Senate's failure to pass the Omnibus spending bill that would keep the government running through the year.

The problem is that the GOP is balking over the 8,000 earmarks as well as some other wasteful spending that they wish to see removed. And Reid can't get the Republicans to budge which has angered Pelosi who feels rather exposed after the House passed the bill easily:

After an angry, swearing late night meeting among top Democrats, Congress voted Friday to give itself another five days to try to complete a long-overdue omnibus spending bill that had become a growing embarrassment for party leaders and President Barack Obama.

Senate Democrats had abruptly pulled back Thursday night after finding themselves one vote short of the 60 needed to cut off debate. The action infuriated Speaker Nancy Pelosi so much that the California Democrat wanted to abandon the $409.6 billion measure and instead push through a stripped-down continuing resolution to keep the government operating through Sept. 30.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and his deputy, Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D.-Ill.) were called to Pelosi’s office late Thursday night and ultimately prevailed in their argument that Democrats should try to salvage the bill, which includes critical spending increases for vital agencies. But the heated, sometimes profane, exchanges were described as “ugly” by Democrats on both sides of the Capitol. Staff, kicked out in the hall, could hear the yelling, and Pelosi herself seemed a little abashed the next day, joking that nothing her leadership could say to her now would match the night before.

The speaker’s anger was directed primarily at Senate Republicans, who withheld their support even when they had substantial interests in the measure. Pelosi feels that Republicans are gaming the Democrats, who have to be tougher in turn by forcing them to live with the consequences of what she sees as obstruction.

The speaker’s scorched earth alternative, killing the omnibus, was too much for some in her own leadership. But Pelosi’s anger is shared by many House Democrats along with the fear that the Senate debate is being dragged out by Republicans as part of a concerted campaign to pummel Obama even as the young president tries to keep the nation focused on his economic agenda and budget going forward.

This is more than simple obstructionism by the GOP. It is an attempt to hold the Democrat's feet to the fire on the more than $14 billion in earmarks. If they want that kind of waste in the bill, they are going to have to eat the pork sandwich themselves with no help from Republicans.

The Democrats look weak, unsure of themselves, and in disarray - which mirrors exactly how the White House looks.

You think there's some kind of connection? Don't bother looking for it in the media since the impasse is being protrayed as just more GOP obstructionism.

Posted at 11:28 AM | Email

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[acoulterfan]

Blaming Bush, saying they “inherited” this mess and claiming obstructionism is starting to get a little old. I don’t think that the MSM can keep this up much longer, LOL

[SonOfDarkSkies]

Obamnibus!

[dr_who]

The Democrats look weak, unsure of themselves, and in disarray - which mirrors exactly how the White House looks.

Looks can be deceiving. Mainstream conservatives need to stop being so happy-go-lucky no matter what all the time.

[Steely Tom]

As I've said before, the word... is...

Boulders!

[devane617]

Vote Pelosi out and solve lots of problems.

[Texas4ever]

Pass the popcorn! This is getting good.

[YellowRoseofTx]

Good for the GOP!!! Obstruct away.

[muawiyah]

That old bag's probably been so anxiety ridden this weekend that she's injected a dangerous level of botox in her face.

Should be interesting tomorrow when her frontal cortex slows to a halt and the mid-brain takes over!

[FormerACLUmember]

Pelosi is the most disgusting humanoid in Washington, bar none.

[do the dhue]

I've BEEN falling apart over Obamabus spending.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

My money’s on Pelosi. Go Plastic Woman!!

[hinckley buzzard]

Looks can be deceiving. Mainstream conservatives need to stop being so happy-go-lucky no matter what all the time.

I agree. It is tempting to lick one's lips at signs of 'rat discord, but in the end it is as if they never had any disagreement at all. And they coalesce into one stagnant mass--like pond scum.

[anglian]

Mona Charen says its time to stand up for capitalism: If ever there were a time when our market economy deserves a little coddling and a soft pillow under its head, it is now. Battered by a financial meltdown, a plunging stock market, declining trade, and frightened consumers, now would be the time to cut corporate tax rates (which are among the highest in the world), reverse the “mark to market” rule for valuing assets, temporarily increase unemployment compensation and Medicaid (with sunset provisions), and keep taxes low. When Barack Obama agreed last autumn that it was not a good idea to raise taxes during a recession, it seemed that he was at least enough of a moderate to understand the importance of markets. One can no longer indulge that hope. Like blasts from a machine gun, Obama has announced higher taxes on the owners of small businesses (the most productive individuals), higher taxes on the energy industry (through the cap-and-trade system), green mandates on the auto industry that will increase the cost of each vehicle, a bailout of mortgagers that will increase the cost of mortgages down the road, increased unionization (which reduces jobs), a repeal of the successful welfare reform of the 1990s, and a rhetorical assault on Wall Street that leaves investors edgy.

The Democrats scoff when you use the “s” word (socialism). It’s a bogeyman, they argue. Not so. If by socialism, you refer to the sort of government-heavy economies that characterize most of Europe, then we are clearly headed there about as fast as Flight 1549 was headed for the Hudson River.

http://drsanity.blogspot.com/

[FormerACLUmember]

Although completely outnumbered, a small band of brave Republicans make their unified stand against the armies of Evil.

In so doing, their sacrifice against all odds buys precious time for the American Nation to rise up and prepare a resistance to the horrific juggernaut.

[CurlyBill]

LOL!! And B. Hussein Obama is Xerxes in this mess...

[The Great RJ]

I have a feeling many Democrat members of Congress are getting an earful from constituents who have seen their pension evaporate while Congress spends our future.

[A Strict Constructionist]

“humanoid”

That’s too far up the food chain for her. I would have said evolutionary but that’s impossible for it.

[aShepard]

Seriously, it’s time to get rid of this stupid C**t!