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my dear, no one is 'screaming and moaning' or 'bitching and moaning ... merely telling how the Hill works in real life. A regretable reality is that while the Senators may vote, and staffers don't, it is a a fact that staffers do the work while the Honorables are out at fundraisers, or glad-handing each other, constituents, and lobbyists.

It is staffers who develop the agenda ... to keep HUNDREDS of Democratic committee staffers under this plan merely allows a D stalemate. It repudiates the GOP's hard won majority status.

Do you really think the Senators come up with their OWN questions at hearings? Do you? DO you think they actually write legislation? Do you think they research, much less write, their own speeches? Do you think most of them even READ the legislation they are about to vote on? But that that were the case!

You want, say, Pickering on the Court? Ok. Now, how many D staffers on the Judiciary Committee - who would have been let go but for this wonderful deal - will be devoted to researching his life to achieve his political, judicial and personal destruction? to track down everyone on God's Green Earth who bears a grudge against him? to work with and prepare witnesses who will testify against him?

Are you starting to understand? Staffers are VERY important, and thanks to this great deal, there will now be HUNDREDS of them on the Hill who would not otherwise be there. Some victory !

Oh I understand completely. Dem. staffers can crawl under any rock they want to and dig up as much dirt as they want to, but when push comes to shove, it is the Senator who casts the vote, and he or she will do that, usually after careful consideration of how that vote will affect his or her re-election.

Do YOU think that there is any more about Pickering that they haven't already put out there? They believed they had him down and out in the last session. THAT'S where they had underestimated the American People! Now if we concentrate on increasing those Republican numbers in the Senate in 2004, we won't have to be sitting here two years from now nit-picking the Senators or the Repubs. and they can do their jobs without having to worry about how slim their margin is! We won't be able to do that by getting folks all hot and bothered against the Repubs. because of their handling of an administrative problem!

My guess is that Frist is still waking a tightrope hoping that none of the RINOS will be convinced to do what 'Jumpin Jim' Jeffords did, though all those RINOS would have to do is to look at how irrelevant that man is today and that should be enough to dissuade them.

I'm not discounting the strength of the staffers, I'm just saying that when push comes to shove, it comes down to numbers of votes. The staffers DON'T vote.