You think this is bad, I've been delving into the actual Senate procedures (to try and figure out what does and what does not qualify) and have been digging through PAGES and PAGES of subparagraphs and obfuscation and parliamentary nonsense. Whew!

The 2009 omnibus budget passed today. But it still seems to me like "what if they passed a budget and nobody noticed" for all the (lack of) attention it's gotten.

Anyway, haven't tried the Senate yet, but I promise a very nice surprise from the House tomorrow (Wednesday). Stay tuned!

-CW

I must admit that all this talk of omnibus spending bills and budget resolutions and whether or not a filibuster is an option leaves me suffering from the MEGO factor...mine eyes glaze over.

But, you should definitely call Reid's office. Just because I have given up on him doesn't mean he's a total lost cause.

I'll tell you what will make me a happy camper, though...a sign - ANY sign - that Obama/BIDEN are about to drop a hint that they have developed a overarching strategy for Afghanistan/Pakistan that will yield good results and stop the killing of NATO (read: mostly American, UK, and Canadian) soldiers there.

I'm still willing to give Pelosi the benefit of the doubt. I heard she and Reid got in a profanity-laced screaming match over the 2009 omnibus budget bill just last week. I still don't know why this bill wasn't put through reconciliation, personally. I read something at TPM which suggested that omnibus bills don't count, but I know that is wrong. If you look at the wikipdeia link, omnibus bills are handled this way all the time. None of the links I followed from this article had any language backing up the claims, so I omitted talking about from my article today.

I still can't seem to get the answer to the basic question: can the 2009 omnibus budget bill be sent through reconciliation or not? The MSM doesn't seem to even be aware of the issue. Maybe I should call Reid's office and bug them about it or something...

-CW

This is most certainly not the first time that Harry Reid has failed to admit that something exists. I remember - like it was yesterday - when Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi would prance in front of the TV cameras to announce that the war in Iraq was lost and there was no plan or strategy to reverse course and salvage the situation.

All the while as these two yahoos were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, Senator Biden was fine tuning his Iraq strategy and getting it ready for a vote in Congress - not a peep out of the Democratic leadership about it. Of course, the media, when they weren't ignoring the Biden strategy, were actively sabotaging it through their sheer incompetence...but that's a whole other can of worms.

If memory serves, Pelosi/Reid remained silent about this only hope for a political solution in Iraq despite a vote on the Biden strategy - which Reid threatened to post-pone indefinitely, as I recall - passing Congress with the support of an overwhelming majority of Republicans and Democrats...the vote in the Senate was 75-23, by the way...

Anyway, my point is...or my question is...why is this same lame Democratic leadership still in a position of power? Given the circumstances, I don't see a change in this leadership on the horizon. But, given the circumstances, there couldn't possibly be a better time for it!

...Stan