Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) adopted the role of Ebenezer Scrooge and scheduled the Senate to work through the Christmas holiday.
Two Republicans - Jon Kyl of Arizona and Jim DeMint of South Carolina - objected, and that became political fodder for Reid, proving that nothing is off limits if a political point can be made.
Reid then took to the floor of the Senate to blast the GOP.
“I don’t need to hear the sanctimonious lectures of Sens. Kyl and DeMint to remind me of what Christmas means,” he said Wednesday afternoon.
He also blamed Republicans - who have a clear minority - for making the Senate work through the holiday. "If they decide to work with us, we can have a happy holiday," he said. Translated: "If Republicans just cave in to us, we can get out of here."
The Hill reported that on Tuesday, Jon Kyl suggested the Majority Leader "...would be on the verge of “disrespecting one of the two holiest days for Christians” by pushing the Senate to work on the omnibus spending bill and the New START nuclear treaty..." right up until Christmas Day.
Reid shot back, "It's offensive to me and millions of working Americans for any senator to suggest that working through the Christmas holiday is sacrilegious or disrespectful."
But the reality is that ol' Ebenezer knows that come January 3, the Democrats' reign of terror will end in the House when the Republicans officially start the new session, and the Democrats will have a much slimmer majority in the Senate.
If he wants to push his legislation, he will have to do it now, while he still has the majority he needs.
And there's so much to do - amnesty for illegal aliens, the START treaty, and more bills designed to kill jobs and strip freedom from the average American. If he waits until January, he won't stand a chance of getting his priorities passed.
So, the Majority Leader has taken a page out of Dickens' classic novel and determined the Senate must stay over the holidays, telling Republicans, "Bah, Humbug!" As a bonus, he gets to blame them for his decision.
For those who think the comparison to the cantankerous skinflint is over the top, consider this - in 1994, Newsweek compared the new Speaker - then Newt Gingrich - to the Grinch - on a cover labeled "How the Gingrich Stole Christmas".
So the question has to be asked. If Reid is going to take on the role of the angry old business owner who wouldn't let his overworked and underpaid employee have Christmas off, will he let the Republicans at least have a bit of heat?
Will he have an epiphany and awake a new man on Christmas Day? The possibilities are endless.
Stay tuned...
Comments