Democrat Shenanigans In Congress

John Fund writes in WSJ's OpinionJournal that Senator Harry Reid is going to make sure to maintain a “Do-Nothing Congress” in an attempt to bolster the Democrats chance of retaking the House and the Senate this November.

By blaming the Republicans for the failure of a number of key pieces of legislation, he hopes to be able to become the Senate Majority Leader. However, Fund believes (as do I) that it will backfire upon him, his counterpart in the House – Nancy Pelosi, and the Democratic Party in general.

[Reid] and all but four other Democrats blocked Senate passage of a legislative package that would have raised the minimum wage, cut the death tax and extended popular tax breaks. A majority of the Senate was on record in favor of all three elements of the legislation, but Mr. Reid pressured enough Democrats to block GOP leaders from getting the 60 votes they needed to proceed to a vote.

Mr. Reid isn't the only Democratic leader who has decided to "just say no" to reasonable compromises. Last week, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made a stirring appeal for reform of entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. He noted that at current rates of growth the programs will be unsustainable and will hurt both the recipients and the overall economy. He pledged his approach would be bipartisan because "when there is a big problem that needs fixing, you should run toward it, rather than away from it."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi responded by trying to panic her colleagues into retreating. She sent an email accusing Mr. Paulson of promoting a scheme for "privatizing" Social Security. That led the Washington Post, no friend of conservatives, to describe Ms. Pelosi's message this way: "Forget bipartisanship, forget problem-solving." The Post added, "We hope other Democrats will be less cynical."

Even the Washington Post is disgusted with the machinations of Reid et al. When a staunch Democrat ally such as the Washington Post is chiding the Dems for such openly cynical actions that derail bills that a majority of Congress and their constituents want, you know they've lost touch with reality.

This is not how a party wins control of Congress.