GOP Freshmen Just Say 'No' To Compromise

IBD Editorials ^ | March 31, 2011 | DANA MILBANK

[Kaslin]

Martin Luther nailed his theses to the Wittenberg church door. House Republican freshmen prefer blue painters' tape.

A band of the first-term members of Congress demonstrated their legislative maturity Wednesday by announcing, in a news conference outside the Capitol, that they wished to deliver a message to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. But rather than merely send him an email or hire a courier, the lawmakers instead marched up the East Front steps and presented themselves at a seldom-used ceremonial door.

Being a ceremonial door, it was locked — so the freshmen used two strips of their blue tape to affix the letter, enclosed in a large manila envelope with the words "MR. REID" handwritten in four-inch letters.

"We're doing our job in the House of Representatives," announced Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., a member of the blue-tape brigade. "We put forth a proposal that would cut $61 billion ... and yet Senator Reid won't even, uh, consider that. That is dereliction of duty."

Actually, Congresswoman, the derelict Reid did bring that proposal to a vote in the Senate — and it failed, 56 to 44.

So will the frosh negotiate a compromise that could pass the Senate? No sirree. "We will not settle for a split-the-baby strategy," proclaimed Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., another member of the blue-tape caucus.

Watching the newbie lawmakers march up the Senate steps, I couldn't help but feel sorry for House Speaker John Boehner. The Republican freshmen have put him in a position where he cannot take yes for an answer.

[Kaslin]

Hey Dana, if your party had passed the budget last October like they were supposed to, this wouldn't be an issue. And where was you when the Republicans couldn't get no compromise from your party

[NoGrayZone]

'a member of the blue-tape brigade.'

Lol.

[frogjerk]

Martin Luther nailed his theses to the Wittenberg church door.

Martin Luther also threw the baby out with the bathwater.

[NoGrayZone]

'another member of the blue-tape caucus.'

brigade or caucus? Could ya please stick to ONE name?

[paul51]

when you keep compromising between screwed and half screwed, you eventually end up in the same place. It just takes a little longer. It'd taken a while, but we have arrived and still people see no reason not to continue business as usual.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Glad to see Vicky showing some backbone.

[EricT.]

The GOP didn’t even have the nads to stand for a 1/625th of 1% cut in a budget that spends almost twice what it receives in revenue.

Eff you, Dana.

I hope you’re in DC when the guillotines and starving, pissed off Americans show up.

[EricT.]

Damned scientific calculator and cold meds. Excuse my bad numbers, please.

1.6% cut in spending. Still worthless. A 50% cut in spending might stop the bleeding, but the wound will still be there festering away.

[throwback]

Is this really a problem? The “moderate” Republicans say that this is only a partial year budget anyway, and the real cuts are in the next one. So just do continuing resolutions till the next budget and see how that one goes down. Actually the prospects of passing real cuts in the next budget may be more likely to pass in that case, because when dims scream like stuck pigs for 6 months, the public will tire of it.

[Houghton M.]

Actually, scholars think the whole “nailing 95 theses to the church door” thing was a myth invented later. Luther sent out his theses for academic debate. And he sent a copy, with an explanatory letter and a treatise about the subject, the the Archbishop of Mainz. Who sent them on to Rome.

It’s a pretty story but false. Just like the “Prayer of St. Francis” wasn’t written until 1917.

[hinckley buzzard]

Look, don't expect anything from dana milbank. He/she/it is one of Charles Darwin's cruel jokes--neither male nor female, fish nor fowl, just a weird blob of protoplasm defying the law of Survival of the Fittest in the warm soupy slough of the DC media quagmire.