Word: reided
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...been so long since Senate majority leader Harry Reid has enjoyed the sweet taste of victory that he's decided he's going to try to make a habit out of it. As always in the Senate, that's much easier said than done...
...weeks ago, when Reid yanked a bipartisan jobs bill that was hammered out by Democrat Max Baucus and Republican Chuck Grassley, it looked like he was on course to do the same thing he did with health care reform: pull a bipartisan deal and replace it with a partisan bill. But that barely worked when the Democrats had 60 votes - so how could Reid hope to ram something through now, when he's one vote short of stopping a Republican filibuster? (See pictures of Republican memorabilia...
...answer is that Reid learned a valuable lesson from health care. Swallowing can be near impossible when you stuff your face, but if you take smaller bites, legislation goes down easier. And so five Republicans so couldn't resist the stripped-down, $15 billion jobs package Reid pushed that they voted to end their own party's filibuster, and 13 Republicans Wednesday votes for passage of the measure, which includes tax incentives for employers who hire and money for highway construction. That gave Reid his first victory since the passage of health care reform on Christmas Eve. Reid's strategy...
...recipe for success that Reid plans on repeating. He has now lined up a series of smaller jobs-related bills. Next up is popular legislation to create a $200 million public-private partnership aimed at increasing tourism in the U.S., which could bring in $4 billion in new revenues and add thousands of jobs. The bill went down in flames last June after Senators from both sides of the aisle sank it with unrelated amendments on the auto bailout and a study on oil prices...
...Given last year's experience, it seems likely that Reid will again move to limit amendments. But doing so is a controversial move that angers Republicans, who have used it as Exhibit A of how Democrats in Congress aren't extending the bipartisan olive branch pushed by President Barack Obama. "Standard Harry Reid," says Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican. "No bipartisanship. Just ram it through. Just pick off a few Republicans. That's been their strategy from the beginning." (Watch a video about why Harry Reid encouraged Barack Obama to run for President...