Joe Sonka July 13th, 2007

I was listening Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal this morning on CSPAN as she spewed out a bucketful of phony right-wing talking points. One of them was that the new Democratic Congress was a "do nothing" Congress, because they couldn’t get anything passed. The blame, of course, was on the Democrats, because they were just being too darned partisan and not compromising (i.e., giving in to whatever Republicans want).

Mimikatz at The Next Hurray swats this dishonest talking point into the third row, citing a detailed report by the Senate Democrats and calling out our boy Mitch in the process.

"Many people do not know that it is due to him that the Senate has accomplished virtually nothing, while the House has passed over 400 pieces of legislation.   Even bills that have been passed by a majority of both houses cannot become law because Bad Boy McConnell will not allow a vote on sending them to a conference committee.  We all know that McConnell would not allow a vote on the Webb-Hagel Amendment, leading Majority Leader Harry Reid to file a cloture motion that needed 60 votes.  Since the Dems had only 56 votes, debate could not be closed off and there was no vote on the substance of  Webb-Hagel.  McConnell promises the same on Levin-Reed and Feingold-Reid."

And let’s take a look at all of the important legislation that the House Democrats have passed, only to be obstructed by "nuclear option filibuster Mitch":

Senate Republicans blocked funding for the intelligence community  (National Journal Congress Daily, 4/18/07), …denying our country the tools to fight the war on terror. (DPC Report)

Senate Republicans blocked a vote on reforming the Medicare Prescription Drug plan“ (Boston Globe, 4/19/07) and denied seniors lower prescription drug prices. (DPC Report)

Senate Republicans blocked raising the minimum wage (New York Times, 1/25/07) delaying a much needed raise for hard-working Americans. (DPC Report)

Senate Republicans are blocking the appointment of conferees on the 9/11 Commission Recommendations (DPC Report)  leaving the United States vulnerable to terrorist threats.  (Washington Times, 3/14/07)

Senate Republicans are blocking the appointment of conferees on ethics reform  (DPC Report)  halting progress on the “most significant ethics reform since Watergate.” (Washington Post, 1/19/07)

Senate Republicans are blocking a bill to bring transparency to campaign fundraising  (The Washington Post, 05/09/07) denying the American people the right to know who funds Senate campaigns.  (Washington Post, 5/9/07)

Senate Republicans blocked a vote on holding Attorney General Gonzales accountable (Reuters, 06/11/07)  refusing to hold the Attorney General accountable. 

Senate Republicans blocked legislation to make forming unions easier  (Associated Press, 06/15/07)  siding with corporations against average American workers.  (DPC Report)

It’s quite clear that McConnell and his Grand Obstructionist Party (like Dewitt) are simply going to try to knock down any legislation that the Democrats and the American public want. Then, after grinding all legislation to a halt, they’ll simply sit back and criticize the Democrats for not getting anything done.

Will the MSM pick up this talking point? I think we all know the answer to that. The Democrats need to stay on the offensive and call out McConnell and his fellow obstructionists for blocking the legislation that America overwhelmingly wants and needs: change in our Iraq policy, lowering prescription drug prices, enacting the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, campaign fundraising reform and ethics reform. If the public can realize the nuance of this legislative process and how it is being manipulated by Mitch & Co. (and I’m sure they’re banking on Americans not being smart enough to figure this out), they’ll know that if they want this kind of reform to pass, they’ll just need to give the Democrats a bigger majority.

(crossposted at BlueGrassRoots)

UPDATE: from CoolerKing in comments, a great YouTube clip highlighting the Republican obstructionists:

• Filibuster , Health Care , Homeland Security , Iraq War , Medicare Part D , Minimum Wage , Mitch McConnell , Prescription Drugs , Senate Minority Leader , U.S. Senate
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