Reid/Pelosi's Houses Crumble-Democrats Blame Each Other For Failures

Democrats Blaming Each Other For Failures

AMERICANS CALL FOR PELOSI AND REID TO RESIGN

(This is truly rediculous, not only has the Congress enjoyed the Lowest Approval Rating In History, and havent gotten anything done (Except for a minimum wage increase), but now they are blaming each other, which is correct, there is enough blame to go around in the Democraticaly Controlled Congress for everybody. Their first 100 Hours has now turned into a year with nothing to show for it. Here a *snip* of a story I read today)

*snip*When Democrats took control of Congress in January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) pledged to jointly push an ambitious agenda to counter 12 years of Republican control.



Now, as Congress struggles to adjourn for Christmas, relations between House Democrats and their colleagues in the Senate have devolved into finger-pointing.

Reid, in turn, has taken to the Senate floor to criticize what he called the speaker's "iron hand" style of governance.


Harry Reid D-NV 

"If there's going to be a filibuster, let's hear the damn filibuster," Rangel fumed. "Let's fight this damned thing out."

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) called it a "hold and fold" strategy: Senate Republicans put a "hold" on Democratic bills, and Senate Democratic leaders promptly fold their tents.

Asked about his decision on government funding, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) groused to the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call: "I'll tell you how soon I will make a decision when I know how soon the Senate sells us out." Senate Democrats have fired back, accusing Pelosi and her liberal allies of sending over legislation that they know cannot pass in the Senate, and of making demands that will not gain any GOP votes. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) noted that, this summer, Reid employed just the kind of theatrics Rangel and other House Democrats are demanding, holding the Senate open all night, pulling out cots and forcing a dusk-till-dawn debate on an Iraq war withdrawal measure before a vote on war funding. Democrats gained not a single vote after the all-night antics.

"I understand the frustration; we're frustrated, too," Bayh said. "But holding a bunch of Kabuki theater doesn't get anything done."

Their support plummeted as the liberal base grew outraged over the Democratic inability to counter the president on any war issue, while moderates and centrists looking for bipartisan kitchen-table accomplishments instead saw partisan gridlock.

Reid has let his own frustration show. After Republican senators accused Pelosi of lying about her intentions on a comprehensive energy bill, the majority leader offered a backhanded defense.

"I can't control Speaker Pelosi," Reid said on the chamber floor. "I hope everybody understands that. She is a strong, independent woman. She runs the House with an iron hand. I support what she does, but no one needs to come and tell me I didn't keep my word."

Some days Reid and Pelosi get down to business and quickly settle cross-chamber disputes, but other times it requires a different touch to deliver certain messages. After Tuesday's Senate Democratic leadership meeting, Reid dispatched deputies to inform Pelosi that the Senate would not stand for the latest offer to eliminate earmarks, as well as all war funds, from a year-end omnibus spending package.

"When Harry's done talking, the conversation's over. Boom," the Democratic senator said, mimicking someone hanging up the phone.

The 60-vote threshold has become the flashpoint for the intramural Democratic dispute.

Republicans, who spent 12 years in similar battles, are just enjoying the spectacle.

"Just let 'em stew for a while," said soon-to-retire Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.), a veteran of the GOP's own squabbles.

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We warned you Democrat voters out there this would happen, but did you listen? NO! The sad thing is not only has Congress failed on ALL fronts, but they are taking America down with it.
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MEANWHILE: DEMOCRATS ARE LOST IN TIME ON IRAQ

Our view on war in Iraq:

Here is another *snip* of a story I read today

Surge's success holds chance to seize the moment in Iraq
Instead, Democrats are lost in time, Bush lowers the bar for Baghdad.
Iraq remains a violent place, but the trends are encouraging.

U.S. and Iraqi casualties are down sharply. Fewer of the most lethal Iranian-made explosive devices are being used as roadside bombs. In community after community, Sunni groups who were once in league with al-Qaeda have switched sides and are working with the U.S. forces.

On the Shiite side of Iraq's sectarian chasm, something similar is happening. About 70,000 local, pro-government groups, a bit like neighborhood watch groups, have formed to expose extremist militias, according to Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign Relations.



Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, seem lost in a time warp. They could try to impose new benchmarks that acknowledge the military progress. Instead, too many seem unable or unwilling to admit that President Bush's surge of 30,000 more troops has succeeded beyond their initial predictions. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who in the spring declared the war lost, said last week that "the surge hasn't accomplished its goals." Anti-war Democrats remain fixated on tying war funding to a rapid troop withdrawal. Yet pulling the troops out precipitously threatens to squander the progress of recent months toward salvaging a decent outcome for the Iraqi's.

What's needed is acknowledgment that the surge is achieving what was intended: not complete military victory but enough stability to make political compromise possible.

So far, the Iraqis have missed just about every benchmark that Congress set early this year and Bush promised to enforce. According to the Generals on the ground all agree the Iraqi's need more time.

To some degree, the positive "bottom up" developments seem to be working. The Sunnis, for instance, have abandoned their political isolation and now want to participate in the government. But the Shiites' persistent resistance to letting them in makes a case for new, meaningful benchmarks, not trivial certainties such as simply passing a budget, one of the requirements the White House has set.

Military Progress has been a success. But More aggressive diplomacy of the kind advocated by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group would help — even a regional conference such as the one the United States recently hosted in Annapolis, Md., to restart Middle East peace talks.

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So Not Only has Congress failed, they are also in utter confusion over Iraq. They said "If there was good news out of Iraq, and the Iraq War was being won, it would be a very BAD thing for us Democrats". I guess the success in Iraq has thrown the Democrats into utter chaos! It's time to replace the entire Democrat Congress, because they arent capable of running a War On Terror, Protecting this Country, or getting anything done at all.

Dems Cave On Spending

Dems Bow to Bush Demands On Spending

Dems Stall Congress

Dems Blame Each Other For Failures