Followed a link in today's 'ThinkFast' entry to this ~ so much for 'good faith' ~  ~ Sooz

(AP) – 11 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans intend to block action on virtually all Democratic-backed legislation unrelated to tax cuts and government spending in the current postelection session of Congress, officials said Tuesday, adding that the leadership has quietly collected signatures on a letter pledging to carry out the strategy.

If carried out, it would doom Democratic-backed attempts to end the Pentagon's practice of discharging openly gay members of the military service and give legal status to young illegal immigrants who join the military or attend college.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made both measures a priority as Democrats attempt to enact legislation long sought by groups that supported them in the recent midterm elections.

A nuclear arms treaty with Russia that President Barack Obama wants ratified would not be affected, since any debate would take place under different rules than those that apply to legislation. Even so, its passage is not assured as Republicans are seeking concessions from the White House.

Officials who disclosed the new Republican maneuver did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss it.

It was not known how many of the Senate's 42 Republicans had signed the draft letter, which the leadership intends to make public quickly.

Senate Democrats need 60 votes to overcome any delaying tactics, meaning they could be thwarted if 41 Republicans join in the commitment.

Democrats' chances of passing politically charged legislation will dim when the new Congress convenes in January, since Republicans will take control of the House and gain more Senate seats.

The letter comes after comments by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and others in his party that the voters made it clear in the elections they want lawmakers to focus on economic issues.

"Despite what some Democrats in Congress have suggested, voters did not signal they wanted more cooperation on the Democrats' big-government policies that most Americans oppose," McConnell and incoming House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, wrote in an op-ed article published in the Washington Post.

http://www.google.com/hos...7cc542db8172f9c18c7144f6

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ~ not sure which is correct: the op says the START treaty would be EXcluded from this 'hostage plan', but Benen says it will be INcluded ~ if ever there was a time for executive orders and recess appointments, NOW is that time ~ Sooz

ALL 42 SENATE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE HOSTAGE PLAN.... The AP had an item late last night, noting that Senate Republicans were circulating a letter, "quietly collecting signatures" on a plan to "block action on virtually all Democratic-backed legislation unrelated to tax cuts and government spending."

This morning, the Senate GOP leadership unveiled their letter -- signed by literally all 42 members of the Republican caucus -- declaring their intention to hold the chamber hostage until the tax policy debate is resolved.

In practical terms, this means that the Senate Republican caucus will join arms and kill literally every piece of legislation in the lame-duck session -- New START, funding U.S. troops, the DREAM Act, etc. -- until the government is fully funded and they're satisfied with the outcome of the debate on tax policy.

When the letter was being circulated yesterday, there was some hope that some of the less-conservative members -- the Maine "moderates," for example -- might not go along with the hostage-taking strategy. This morning, however, we learned that every Republican is on board with this plan. Even Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) is saying our national security needs through the pending arms treaty must take a back seat to tax cuts.

Also note the context: President Obama hosted a meeting at the White House yesterday with congressional leaders of both parties, and afterwards, everyone was all smiles. There was a renewed commitment to try to work together, find common ground, with an emphasis on bipartisanship.

A few hours later, the hostage letter was circulated by the GOP leadership, and less than a day after the bipartisan confab, literally every member of the Senate Republican caucus effectively told the world, "Screw bipartisanship; we're playing hardball until we get what we want on tax cuts for the wealthy."

How Democrats -- on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue -- respond to this gambit remains to be seen.

* Postscript: Also note the unstated truth behind the threat -- Republicans will block literally everything until they're satisfied, at which point, they'll try to block literally everything anyway.

—Steve Benen 10:00 AM December 1. 2010

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archiv ... 026869.php

The American citizens are being held hostage by a cabal of ruling elites. Does this surprise anyone?

This doesn't surprise me at all but I can honestly tell you that in my lifetime and the number of years I have been able to vote (and that's a long time), this really pisses me off more than anything I can think of regarding politics.  I have written so many emails this morning to various political people, I have surprised myself.  This is totally insane what the Republicans are doing.  Totally insane. 

i think the democrats should play this one out, and make the gop capitulate to a middle class tax break, or none. i think it is a win-win for them.

if the gop does not capitulate, they will be held responsible for raising the taxes on ALL AMERICANS. that would be good to campaign on.
in addition, it will close the budget deficit, in all likelihood, which would be pretty awesome.

either way, the democrats come out looking good, imo.

For me, 'extort' is exactly the right word ~ Sooz

I agree with you, Mac ~ I will happily pay higher taxes just to see the Rs fail in this showdown ~ and it looks like Stony Hoyer is on the same page with you/me ~ Sooz

Obama did his homework on this.
he was right during the campaign.
he should stick to it.

I'd like to read the unedited version Choas. Maybe if more people did likewise, some new "talking points" will emerge. Someone needs to stick firecrackers up the Democrats' collective asses - that's the only thing that will seemingly work to wake these idiots up.