Thursday, November 03, 2005
It's about time!
Senate's Closed-Session Move Borne Out of Daschle's Strategy
...The final decision to employ the tactic, which infuriated Republicans and exacerbated partisan animosity, was made in the Democratic leader's second-floor Capitol office Monday night, in a small gathering of his lieutenants. Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) considered the strategy to be so sensitive that only four of his colleagues knew what he intended when he entered the Senate chamber at 2:25 p.m. Tuesday, party aides said yesterday....Daschle wanted to cooperate with the other party. However, the other party never wanted to cooperate with them. Why give them the consideration? I'm glad Reid did something, anything, to start looking at the BIG problem. The GOP had no intention of doing anything. It was time for someone to act. Let's see what happens, next! It's like a cliff-hanger. I'm on the edge of my seat:)
...But the notion of one party springing the rule on the other party without warning was so alien that senators could not cite a previous example. Republican leaders quickly denounced it as a stunt, an affront, a trust-killing slap in the face...
...Reid's aides said yesterday that their boss decided on the dramatic, attention-grabbing ploy because he was weary of GOP foot-dragging on a promised inquiry by the Senate intelligence committee into the Bush administration's handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq. "We'd had enough press conferences and requests, public and private," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said. "Now it was time to act."...
...But Reid did not have to start from scratch. His predecessor, former Democratic leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.), had considered going into closed session to discuss intelligence use and to spur the inquiry launched in early 2004. But he wanted the cooperation of Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.)...
