When Democrats fight ain’t so pretty either

House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel? Senate Democrats have “Stockholm syndrome” for caving to Senate GOP filibuster threats all the time.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid criticizes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s “iron hand” style of government. (Oh, if it were only true, Harry. You must be confusing her with former GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert, or his power behind the throne, Majority Leader Tom DeLay.)

Neither side of the Capitol Dome has done itself much credit. The latest anti-results:

Democrats in each chamber are now blaming their colleagues in the other for the mess in which they find themselves. The predicament caused the majority party yesterday surrender to President Bush on domestic spending levels, drop a cherished renewable-energy mandate and move toward leaving a raft of high-profile legislation, from addressing the mortgage crisis to providing middle-class tax relief, undone or incomplete.

And, the backbiting probably isn’t dying down. Not after comments like this:

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,” he 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.”

There’s plenty of blame to go around here. First, on Reid’s side, besides his anti-filibuster all-nighter on Iraq spending, he still hasn’t figured out enough sneaky tactics to counter GOP filibuster threats. Surely, Robert Byrd, “Mr. Senate,” could tell him a trick or two.

If nothing else, why doesn’t Reid threaten to do what House Appropriations Chair David Obey plans? Gut any Senate spending bill of earmarks until Republicans start squeaking. It WILL work.

Look at the water bill that Congress recently re-passed to override a Bush veto for the first time. If there’s money involved, the GOP will listen.

On Pelosi’s side, part of it is that a number of freshman Democrats are fairly conservative. At the same time, she pissed off many of the definite liberals, before taking over, by how much, besides impeachment itself, she seemed ready to rule off the political table.

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Congressional Democrats: Fool us 12 times…

And, we’ll come back for more! At least, that ought to be the motto.

The defense appropriations bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid traded away for the “I don’t want to comment on waterboarding” approval of Mike Mukasey as AG? Well, it’s the target of Bush’s first signing statement since Democrats regained the Congressional majority. His specific stated objections to the bill include:

one law Bush targeted requires him to give oversight committees notice before transferring US military equipment to United Nations peacekeepers.

Bush also challenged a new law that limits his ability to transfer funds lawmakers approved for one purpose to start a different program, as well as a law requiring him to keep in place an existing command structure for the Navy's Pacific fleet.

Folks, it’s that second one that’s critical.

Obviously, Bush is saying in advance that if Congress tries to crimp Iraq spending in anyway, he’s simply going to ignore it. Or Iran.

That said, Bush did pull in his horns a bit:

By referring only to objections voiced in past documents, Bush's new signing statement struck a less aggressive tone than those he issued during the years when his own party controlled Congress.

But, that doesn’t matter. His rejection of funding compartmentalization directly connects to Iraq, if not to any Iranian ideas he has up his sleeve. Count on it.

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Mukasey vote swapped for DoD pork

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid swapped Mike Mukasey’s nomination for the Defense Department appropriations bill, which doesn’t include Iraq and Afghanistan costs.

This was a routine appropriations bill. So what, so what the fuck, if GOP Senators were using procedural tactics to delay it? Reid could have played that same game with some bill some Republicans lusted after.

Instead, Mukasey was swapped out for military pork. No other way to put it.

The DoD regular appropriations bill is about 50 percent pork as it is. Probably would have done the country a damn bit of good, Mukasey aside, for it to sit a while.

And, Dodd got stiffed out of the chance to filibuster, and deliberately, I believe.

I hereby nominate Harry Reid for the “Get Some Conejos” prize of the week.

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