Harry Reid, still pretty much a badass.
The new Republican majority in the Senate is whining about Harry Reid being a bully as much as they did when they were in the minority. He just makes them
so darned mad!
The new Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, wanted to initiate a lengthy floor debate on a House-passed Department of Homeland Security funding bill. But Reid surprised Republicans by rallying his caucus on four separate occasions to block the measure from even coming forward—demanding McConnell drop contentious immigration provisions. After a month of inaction in the Senate and up against Friday's funding deadline, McConnell ultimately bent to Reid’s demands.
As House Republicans have called for formal negotiations on the Senate's "clean" DHS funding bill, Reid has sent a blunt message across the Capitol: Take it or leave it. Most believe the House will ultimately take it.
That's not all: As McConnell is pushing for a new plan to thwart Obama's executive actions on immigration, Reid and his leadership team are warning they will prevent the matter from even coming to a debate before Congress funds the DHS. And even after Reid eventually agrees to debate the Republican plan on immigration, Democratic leaders are plotting a series of politically charged amendments that could put vulnerable Republicans and potential presidential candidates in tough spots. They will then try to filibuster the Republican bill to death.
"He is controlling the agenda," Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said of Reid. "And he probably will control the agenda if we don"t change the rules."
Welcome to the Senate, Mr. Shelby. The whining, it would burn ... if it wasn't so pathetic. Florida's Marco Rubio complains that Reid and Democrats "are just further antagonizing everyone." Illinois' Mark Kirk let his nasty self out, saying, "The schedule is controlled by the majority leader. That means some Democrats who have forgotten they lost the last election don't have the schedule anymore." John Cornyn of Texas is apparently afflicted by a really, really short memory:
"This is from the majority leader last Congress who basically shut down the Senate. […] And that kind of dysfunction was repudiated in the election. I just don't know what sort of alternate universe he's living in."
It's called the Senate, Mr. Cornyn. You were well acquainted with how it worked for the past eight years when you were in the minority and defined dysfunction.
At least one thing hasn't changed: Harry Reid still rules their world, and they still hate him for it.