Reid To Kyl: Don't Lecture Me About Meaning Of Christmas

[one...two...tree 2,762]

After Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) accused Majority Leader Harry Reid of grinchery for suggesting that the Senate work the week after Christmas, Reid blamed Kyl's party for the delay that may push votes past the holiday.

"As a Christian, no one has to remind me of the importance of Christmas for all of the Christian faith, for all their families, all across America," he said. "I don't need to hear the sanctimonious lectures of Sen. Kyl and [sen. Jim] DeMint to remind me of what Christmas means."

"Where were their concerns about Christmas [when they were posing] filibuster after filibuster of every piece of legislation during this entire Congress?" Reid asked on the Senate floor this afternoon.

Yesterday, Reid threatened to call the Senate back after Christmas to finish up the busy lame duck agenda before the Congress ends Jan. 4. Republicans -- who, it seems, would prefer Congress leave without passing the START treaty, Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal, spending bills and other legislation -- balked, with Kyl saying Reid was "disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians."

DeMint (R-SC), on the other hand, said today that it would be "sacrilegious" for the Senate to hold a vote on the START treaty in the days just before Christmas.

"You can't jam a major arms control treaty right before Christmas," he told Politico. "What's going on here is just wrong. This is the most sacred holiday for Christians."

For what it's worth, Easter is the most sacred holiday on the Christian calendar.

http://tpmdc.talking...mas.php?ref=fpb

[Peikko 1,575]

In America there are christians and christians, partriots and patriots, americans and americans. The definition of which category you belong to seems to lie along party lines which is to my mind rather sad.

Edited December 16, 2010 by Madame Cleo

[SuperDuper! 230]

In America there are christians and christians, partriots and patriots, americans and americans. The definition of which category you belong to seems to lie along party lines which is to my mind rather sad.

You just have it ALL figured out, dontcha.....

BIG TRIPLE BOING!

[trillium13 84]

Wah wah. I have to work every day before and after Christmas. So do all my Christian coworkers. I've also had to work on Christmas plenty of years. Don't feel sorry for them.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Wah wah. I have to work every day before and after Christmas. So do all my Christian coworkers. I've also had to work on Christmas plenty of years. Don't feel sorry for them.

Yep. Along those lines I have to wonder: Are the troops coming home for the second most important holiday for Christians? No? Then I don't see any reason why any other public servant would feel to have a valid claim on spending the time with his or her family. Least of all those that sent the troops wherever it is that they will spend Christmas. Sorry, Sens Kyl and DeMint but you guys have been hired and are getting paid to do a public job. So stop complaining get the ** busy.

[Pooky 3,825]

Harry Reid's just p1$$ed that a few pieces of legislation that won't fly with the new House of Representatives may not make it into this Senate session and will then die.

He knows that all he has to do is get Pelosi's Partisans on board with the tax/unemployment/other spending deal that the President has signed up to and everything will flow (kind of) smoothly thereafter. Pelosi, on the other hand, really has nothing to lose by staging this legislative roadblock. The tax/unemployment/other spending deal would be done as first order of business once the new session of Congress begins in January, so she can just sit there with her lame duck colleagues and see out this session making a statement. Apparently, Dingy Harry is too much of a weasel and a whipping boy to stand up to Pelosi and get things moving.

All the while, the GOP don't have to do a thing. They made their compromise, agreed it with the President and, apparently, the Senate Majority Leader, only to have the House of Representatives say they won't pass it. Despite all the media effort to blame the "No" on the GOP, this time it's a little more difficult.

Boo hoo. That's politics for you.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Harry Reid's just p1$$ed that a few pieces of legislation that won't fly with the new House of Representatives may not make it into this Senate session and will then die.

He knows that all he has to do is get Pelosi's Partisans on board with the tax/unemployment/other spending deal that the President has signed up to and everything will flow (kind of) smoothly thereafter. Pelosi, on the other hand, really has nothing to lose by staging this legislative roadblock. The tax/unemployment/other spending deal would be done as first order of business once the new session of Congress begins in January, so she can just sit there with her lame duck colleagues and see out this session making a statement. Apparently, Dingy Harry is too much of a weasel and a whipping boy to stand up to Pelosi and get things moving.

All the while, the GOP don't have to do a thing. They made their compromise, agreed it with the President and, apparently, the Senate Majority Leader, only to have the House of Representatives say they won't pass it. Despite all the media effort to blame the "No" on the GOP, this time it's a little more difficult.

Boo hoo. That's politics for you.

You got it all twisted, P. The Senate GOP demanded to deal with and dispose of the tax issue first before dealing with the funding of the government and other issues - START, defense appropriations, etc. They are slowing all that down right this moment and are then complaining that they're running out of time? Wanna be home for Christmas and not return between Christmas and the New year? Fine, allow the legislation to go to an up-or-down vote and you're home free. Wanna delay? Fine. Senate will be in session all of next week and back in business on the 27th. There's only one reason for this extra time in D.C. - and that's the Senate GOP. So they really have noone to complain to other than themselves.

[Ban Hammer 13,474]

In America there are christians and christians, partriots and patriots, americans and americans. The definition of which category you belong to seems to lie along party lines which is to my mind rather sad.

isn't that one someone who believes in going to the junk yard instead of buying oem?

[Dan and Judy 614]

Madame Cleo, on 15 December 2010 - 09:49 PM, said:

In America there are christians and christians, partriots and patriots, americans and americans. The definition of which category you belong to seems to lie along party lines which is to my mind rather sad.

isn't that one someone who believes in going to the junk yard instead of buying oem?

I'm sooo confused!!! Who am I?

[Nina~ 431]

I'm sooo confused!!! Who am I?

A blue monkey?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

In America there are christians and christians, partriots and patriots, americans and americans. The definition of which category you belong to seems to lie along party lines which is to my mind rather sad.

I think Christian is supposed to be capitalized.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I'm sooo confused!!! Who am I?

A protector of precious bodily fluids...or PPBF.

[Pooky 3,825]

You got it all twisted, P. The Senate GOP demanded to deal with and dispose of the tax issue first before dealing with the funding of the government and other issues - START, defense appropriations, etc. They are slowing all that down right this moment and are then complaining that they're running out of time? Wanna be home for Christmas and not return between Christmas and the New year? Fine, allow the legislation to go to an up-or-down vote and you're home free. Wanna delay? Fine. Senate will be in session all of next week and back in business on the 27th. There's only one reason for this extra time in D.C. - and that's the Senate GOP. So they really have noone to complain to other than themselves.

And who is preventing passage of that Bill? Pelosi's Partisans in the House of Representatives.

It's a last power play by the outgoing Democrat Speaker and her cohorts, versus a first power play by the incoming GOP representatives in the House and the Senate, who think they "won" in the midterms.

In the end, it just so much politics.

[Pooky 3,825]

Wyden to undergo surgery for prostate cancer, will miss votes

From Carrie Dann and Ken Strickland

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has been diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer, his office said Thursday.

"Thanks to routine screening, this was diagnosed very early and I expect a full and speedy recovery," Wyden said in a statement.

But the 61-year-old lawmaker will miss votes tomorrow and possibly next week due to surgery on December 20, possibly affecting Democrats' ability to reach the 60 vote threshold necessary to move forward on a handful of remaining legislative priorities.

“I scheduled the surgery for the Monday before Christmas anticipating that the Senate would have recessed by that time and that there would be no disruption to my work in Oregon or Washington,” he said. “However, it now appears that I will be missing votes tomorrow and possibly next week while I prepare and undergo this procedure.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid again vowed Thursday to hold votes on the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the START treaty, and the DREAM Act. Republicans are vowing to block those initiatives in the waning days of the lame duck session until work on a bill to fund the government next year is completed.

Wyden is expected to be back to work full-time after the New Year.

MSNBC link

Seems like Dingy Harry's job just got a little harder.

Unlike half the comments on the MSNBC page, I don't believe cancer is something to mess about with, let alone use for partisan political purposes. Good luck Senator Wyden. May you have a speedy and complete recovery.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

And who is preventing passage of that Bill? Pelosi's Partisans in the House of Representatives.

Pelosi has some pull, doesn't she? She can prevent passage of a bill in the Senate? Man, that's one powerful speaker, I tell ya'.