Gridlock in the Senate
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on April 5th, 2011 4:39 am by HL
Gridlock in the Senate
Roll Call reports that the legislative pace in the Senate, already described as a “crawl,” is about to become “glacial.”
“With the Republican-controlled House sending Senate Democrats one dead-on-arrival bill after another, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid(D-Nev.) has spent the first three months of this Congress clearing the decks of a handful of relatively noncontroversial measures. But Senate Democrats acknowledge that they could reach the end of the line this week with passage of a small-business bill that has already eaten up two weeks of floor time.”
“Senators on both sides of the aisle said the debate over how to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year and the looming clash over raising the debt ceiling have poisoned the well for House-Senate negotiations on other legislative items. They suggested that after those issues have been resolved there could be a better chance for cross-Dome compromise.”
Warning Signs for the Republicans
Charlie Cook says Republican pollsters and strategists see reasons for concern “that haven’t been heard in almost two years.”
“Among the worries the party now has is that a government shutdown could get blamed on the GOP. Additionally, these party insiders believe that taking on entitlements, specifically Medicare, could jeopardize the party’s hold on the House, its strong chances of taking the Senate and the stronghold that the party has been established with older white voters — not coincidentally, Medicare recipients.”
Key issue: “Part of what is happening is that there is a giant gap between the attitudes of Republican base voters and those who are swing voters.”
Quote of the Day
“The only thing I’m running for is the county line.”
— Former Sen. Carte Goodwin (D-WV), quoted by the Charleston Daily Mail, saying he has no plans to run for public office.
