Explain This To Me
Here’s something I don’t understand. Apparently, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) is holding up the housing bill the Senate is trying to pass. The Dodd is cheesed off:
“One United States senator has decided this bill isn’t going to go forward,” Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd, chief architect of the housing bill, said on the Senate floor.
Dodd said the housing bill has broad, bipartisan support in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. It cleared a key Senate procedural hurdle on Tuesday by an 83-9 vote.
“I had hoped that before we left here for the Independence Day recess, we would be able to send a bill to the president for his signature,” said the Connecticut lawmaker.
But, he said, “One United States senator has decided we shouldn’t do anything but his bill. Unfortunately that’s the way this institution works too often.”
The Dodd is also cheesed off about telecom immunity in the FISA bill. Why can’t he do the same thing?
Popularity: 2% [?]
Because Harry Reid respects the “holds” placed on bills by Ensign, but not the “holds” placed on bills by Dodd. Reid doesn’t have to do it this way, but for some reason he does.