Saturday, June 28, 2008

People With ALS Are Tired of Being Thrown Under the Bus, Senator Coburn


By Ryan Grim

Reid spokesman: GOP climbing aboard Coburn Omnibus

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), responds to Coburn's threat of a "rough time" if Reid doesn't allow debate and amendments to the "Coburn Omnibus." "The idea that Sen. Coburn is talking about the traditions of the Senate is ridiculous," Manley writes in an e-mail. "Look what happened last time we did this. Sen. Coburn held up action on dozens of bills for narrow, personal reasons, demanding debate and four amendments. These bills were held up for months; the Senate had to waste precious time to allow him to offer a few amendments. Each amendment failed by overwhelming bipartisan margins (63, 76, 67, 73 votes against), and the final bill passed 91-4 (Coburn, DeMint, Vitter and Inhofe being the only Nos). That is not debate and amendment; it is abuse, obstruction and delay," he adds. "Things have gotten so bad that Republican senators have approached Sen. Reid to ask that their bills be included in the package."

No comments: