A lesson in bi-partisanship courtesy of Harry Reid Rick Moran I suppose we can now say that the Democrats are as serious about bi-partisanship as they are about reducing the deficit - but that might be unfair. It is clear from this incredible move from Harry Reid that the Democrats actually care less about working with the GOP than they do about reducing the massive debt they have run up.
Glenn Thrush and Lisa Learer at Politico have the incredible details:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid led colleagues and the White House to believe he supported a bipartisan jobs bill - only to scuttle the plan as soon as it was released Thursday over concerns it could be used to batter Democratic incumbents, according to Senate sources. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) worked for weeks with Reid's blessing and frequent involvement to craft an $85 billion jobs bill, a measure that seemed destined to break the partisan logjam that has ground the Senate to a halt.
But as Baucus, Grassley and President Barack Obama were preparing to celebrate a rare moment of bipartisan Kumbaya on Thursday, Reid stunned a meeting of Senate Democrats by announcing he was scrapping Baucus-Grassley, replacing it with a much cheaper, more narrowly crafted, $15 billion version.
"Grassley and three to four Republicans would have voted for it, but all the other Republicans would have beaten the living s-t out of us [during the 2010 midterms], claiming the bill was too bloated," said a Democrat who supported Reid's decision, explaining the leader's logic.
Few felt as good about the decision: Republicans say the about-face will only add to an already poisonous partisan atmosphere, liberal Democrats think the bill is too small to do much good and the powerful negotiators of the bipartisan package were left embarrassed, demoralized and befuddled.
Aides to Baucus and Grassley said their bosses didn't know of Reid's decision when they unveiled their bill early Thursday - and expected it to have the leader's support.
Why wouldn't they expect Reid to support the bill since it was he who asked Baucus and Grassley to write the darn thing in the first place?
I would say to Harry that since the Democrats are going to get pulverized anyway on election day, this bill would hardly have added much to the way that people already feel about Democratic party rule. Exposing your crocodile tears about the GOP refusing to work with Democrats will do far more damage than anything said by any GOP senator during the coming campaign.
