There’s quite a difference in the attitude of our two majority leaders. Here’s Pelosi:

Pelosi announced during a news conference on health care reform Wednesday that she had “no question” that Democrats in the House have the votes they need to secure the passage of the bill.
This announcement was a surprise to many, given recent opposition to the bill from the party’s more moderate members who call for drastic changes to provisions thus far set forth by President Obama.

and here’s Harry Reid:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirmed today that the Senate will not take a vote on a massive health care overhaul proposal before lawmakers return home for the August recess — meaning a key self-imposed deadline that Congress has been working toward for months will be missed.

“Working with Republicans, one of the things that they asked for … was more time,” Reid said during a press conference. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable.”

Quite a contrast, these two - and while some of the bravado or lack thereof is the result of the balances of votes in each branch, Harry Reid always seems to be lacking in motivation, strength and political will. Reid forever reminds me of the weakling from the Charles Atlas cartoon “The Insult That Made a Man Out Of Mac.” The only difference is Harry doesn’t get angry, doesn’t become strong and doesn’t beat the bully. He just sits there.

As Senate leader, he is the poster child for inaffectual leadership and hollow rhetoric. Personally, I think he’s the most useless politician of the last 25 years and his inability to get ANYTHING done is pissing me off to the point where I’m willing to run against him myself - even though I don’t live in Nevada. Everytime he speaks, the following personality points come through:

• My beliefs and powers of persuasion are not strong enough to win a debate.
• Cave on everything. It’s easier than losing in an actual fight.
• Never embrace a controversial issue.
• Never “own” any issue.
• Show you’re an individual against the President’s suggestions at the expense of everything else. It’s really a form of cowardice, but maybe others will see it differently.

Reid and the Senate democrats are willing to go down in flames by NOT trying to agree with anyone in their party (seemingly a badge of honor for these people) and sacrificing the larger good so they can hold onto their small, sometimes insignificant piece of the puzzle. Reid has no sway with the Blue Dogs, all of whom should be shot as they are rabid hounds.

Healthcare reform MUST pass and, in the end, Reid is the roadblock - a man without one ounce of courage when it comes to the good fight, but can bark aggressively behind the glass as long as he knows it will result in absolutely nothing.

Verbal Paintball democratic cowards, harry reid, nancy pelosi

From CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senate and House Democratic leaders had what two sources describe as an extremely heated meeting Thursday night about the spending bill.

Once Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid figured out he did not have the votes to pass it, he and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin went to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office to propose passing a five day resolution to keep the government running, and come back to the $410 billion spending bill next week.

The two Democratic sources say Pelosi reacted with “anger,” arguing that Democrats should instead adopt a “scorched earth” strategy and simply fund the government at last year’s levels through the end of the year. Her point, according to the sources, was that even though Republicans have been slamming the bill as wasteful spending, many of them really have an interest in seeing it passed. This would call their bluff.

Never a big fan of Nancy Pelosi, but THIS is the kind of aggressiveness I can appreciate. The Republicans feel they now have a “brand” in opposing everything the democrats put on the table. Easy brand, I say. It allows them to cowardly stand aside, even on bills that pass through without them, and reap the financial benefits for their states when all is behind them. If something gets passed that does some public good, they can claim they took the money and helped in that cause.

If it goes down in flames, they bear no responsibility. In my opinion, this is the kind of politics we need to leave behind as 2009 starts. I’m happy Pelosi sees the benefit in rolling up her sleeves and showing her fists. I just hope she’s willing to give that punch when the time comes. I don’t expect anything from Harry Reid. This man’s a former boxer apparently, but you’d never know it from his performance as the Senate majority leader. How many times has this fool come to Pelosi with the same news that he hasn’t got the votes? If Tom Delay, that scum, could muster enough republican votes to push through the conservative agenda for several years, this idiot should be able to do the same with the majority he now holds.

If he can’t, he needs to step down. We have no use for him.

Current News, Politics Dick Durbin, harry reid, nancy pelosi, republican cowards, scorched earth, spending bill

“Sacred cows” is Nelson’s polite phrase for earmark-like projects, sacred to members, like $400 million for sexually transmitted disease prevention, $350 million for computers at the USDA, $14 million for cyber security and millions for NASA research.

“They’re good programs, but they just don’t belong, in our opinion, in a stimulus package,” Nelson told FOX News, saying that, instead, members should look to the next spending bill in the pipeline, an omnibus appropriations bill that funds federal agencies for 2009, a measure that was postponed from last year.

A week ago, the republicans put out a list of what they considered waste in the stimulus bill. I’ve tried reading the bill approved by the house and found it daunting. What stood out most was not the individual programs proposed (nothing is revolutionary), but the dollar amounts applied to them. There are oversight committees that are getting anywhere from $350,000,000 to $500,000,000 for management costs alone. Now, some of these programs are active until 2011, but consider that on the low end - 2 years, $350,000,000. That’s a budget of $116,000,000 a year for staff and office space. If my company had revenue like that, I’d be living in a mansion on the ocean.

Very likely, these programs will have staffs of maybe 50, which means there will be an enormous amount of waste. Beyond that, most of your congress people and senators will not even read this 650 something page document, so all they will be concerning themselves with is the expenditures to their state.

Personally, I think it is the duty of everyone of our representatives to read through this document thoroughly and understand the broader scope of what is needed. It’s fine to know the small details, but it must be within the context of a bigger picture.

There is also alot of garbage in this package and it leaves me shaking my head as to why these people can’t come up with anything NEW. With the kind of money being thrown around, you’d think they could hire the best minds to find the most unique ideas on how to stimulate this economy beyond the standards proposed in Roosevelts New Deal and the obligatory tax cuts.

Politics congress, harry reid, nancy pelosi, republican waste list, senate, stimulus bill

“I’m more Mike Mansfield. I’m not LBJ — I don’t twist arms.” - Senator Harry Reid

Wrong response.

Obama is doing his best to bring a new tone to Washington, and I respect that. I think everyone out there agrees that tone is just a part of it - this system that rewards those with the deepest pockets to push change rather than those with the most human of ideas is corrupt and broken. Nothing short of an internal revolution would change that, and despite the times, people have no energy of stomach for such an uprising.

But Harry Reid is part of the problem. It’s a mystery to me how this milk-toast, ineffectual man can command anyone to do anything. He begins a poltical debate by making bold statements about being immovable, and then quietly (well, sometimes not so quietly) folds under the smallest of pressure. I would rather see him and the party go up in flames by standing boldly behind a bill rather than this pathetic giving in that happens with them every single time.

I’ve always felt that Obama’s biggest roadblock in office would be him and Pelosi. Getting them in line and forcing them to be held accountable for bad politics, no matter what the leaning might be, is the first step in creating the kind of government we need, rather than the one we have.

Both should be voted out of their positions, but it is unlikely that will happen anytime soon. Suggestions?

Politics democratic losers, harry reid, nancy pelosi, Obama, politics as usual