Dr. Jekyll & Harry Reid

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has a wildly colorful history during his recent years in the Senate.  Guided by his mantra of political expediency, people are left to wonder what he'll say next that completely undermines something he said yesterday, last week, or last year.  Throughout 2005 and 2006, his political rantings against out of control spending while Republicans controlled the Senate under President Bush's tenure reached a fever pitch with accusations of insanity, recklessness, and other colorful metaphors to describe his political opponents.  Of course, his tune changed once his own party took control of the country's purse in 2006 and, eventually the Presidency, in 2008.  Since that time, deficits have tripled, the national debt has skyrocketed faster and higher than under any other U.S. President, and a budget hasn't been passed in 3 years.

More recently, Senator Reid opened his political heart once again and allowed us a glimpse into the amazing speed with which his political philosophy can so rapidly reverse course and completely change within a matter of days.  He recently belittled and even mocked Governor Romney's overtures of bipartisan cooperation during the closing days of the Presidential election.  Governor Romney consistently spoke about reaching across the aisle and bringing both sides together to find common ground.  Responding to Governor Romney's message of bipartisanship, Harry Reid didn't merely downplay the possible effectiveness of any strategy Romney may pursue, Reid went even further by mocking such a thought as a "fantasy" and that the notion that the Senate would approve his conservative agenda as "laughable."  When faced with the possibility of working with a new executive, Reid folded his arms, pursed his lips, and reacted in much the same manner a school yard bully would when faced with the possibility of not getting his way.   Bipartisan cooperation would be, according to Harry Reid's words, not possible and something he would prevent from happening if Romney won.  Of course, once President Obama won re-election only a few days after his comments, Senator Reid remarkably changed his tone, softened his stance, and now expected Republicans to do the very thing he refused to do only days before.

In recent statements, Senator Reid urged Republicans to "turn away from divisions of the past & join us in cooperation & compromise."  Going even further, Senator Reid acknowledged that "Americans need more jobs, economic certainty, opportunity & fairness. It is within our power as a Congress to quickly address these needs."  Acting quickly as a Congress seems to have eluded Senator Reid, however, on adopting a budget--something they have failed to do for 1300 days.  Economic certainty and jobs have also been something that have plagued us for the past 3 years, as jobs continue to be lost at rates faster than they can be replaced while tepid and declining economic growth in the face of a fiscal cliff has brought about a first ever forecast of a potential recession in 2013 if fiscal problems can't be addressed.  Of course, as Senator Reid has shown us through his recent remarks, compromise is much easier when you're the one wielding the power and giving up what you want is much harder than asking the other party to give up what they want.  In any case, it's even easier when you have a media condoned fall back plan of blaming Bush and branding those as obstructionists who aren't willing to kowtow to your unmitigated demands. Thank you, Senator Reid, for making our job much easier of knowing who to brand as an obstructionist when nothing gets done in Washington.