Lawmakers Distracted by Lawmaking
Remember all that talk a few days ago about the impending Republican crackup? Neither do we, but that's probably just as well, for it doesn't appear there was much to it. The Washington Times notes that "House Democrats have voted with Republicans on several major bills this year":
>Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, voted against five major bills this year, but voting for the legislation were at least 40 of her 202 rank-and-file Democrats, or 20 percent, and as many as 122, or 60 percent.
"Republicans say this indicates a lack of vision and agenda coming from Democratic leadership," the Times adds:
>"What we're seeing is a pattern of bipartisanship, of Democrats lacking in agenda and their guys jumping over to the Republican vision of how we're running the country," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican.
Democrats call the GOP spin "ridiculous," but check out their spin:
>Jennifer Crider, spokeswoman for Mrs. Pelosi, said these bills "are not party-position bills," and that Democrats are united on the issues important to people, such as health care and Social Security.
>She said Republicans are trying to shift attention away from intraparty discord, public scrutiny over abuse of power, and a lack of support for the president's proposed Social Security reform.
>"What they're trying to do is distract," Ms. Crider said. "They're choosing to pass legislation that is bipartisan."
In other words, rather than cracking up like they're supposed to, Republicans are trying to "distract" people by actually doing their jobs. Crider might just have surpassed her boss's record for worst political spin ever.
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