March 8, 2009
Dems falling apart over Omnibus spending bill
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.