KIMBERLY Strassel, "Harry Reid's Senate Shutdown," wsj.com, January 10, 2013, wherein the author convincingly demonstrates that the Do-Nothing Congress is, in truth . . .
. . . the Do-Nothing Senate.
It's often said the 113th Congress is on track to become the "least productive" in history -- but that tagline obscures crucial details. The Republican House in fact passed more than 200 bills in 2013. Some were minor, and others drew only GOP votes. But nearly a dozen were bipartisan pieces of legislation that drew more than 250 Republicans and Democrats to tackle pressing issues -- jobs bills, protections against cyberattack, patent reform, priortizing funding for pediatric research, and streamlining regulations for pipelines.
These laws all went to die in Mr. Reid's Senate graveyard . . . . [The Senate] passed not a single appropriations bill and not a single jobs bill. Of the 72 (mostly token) bills President Obama signed in 2013, 56 came from the House; 16 came from the chamber led by his own party.
This is the norm in Mr. Reid's Senate . . . .
. . . .
Here's how the Senate "works" these days. Mr. Reid writes the legislation himself, thereby shutting Republicans out of the committee drafting. Then he outlaws amendments.
Ms. Strassel thinks this is a winning issue for Republicans. She's wrong. "Regular order," as it's known, is critical to the political health of our poor, abused country, but as a campaign slogan -- "Regular Order or Die!" -- it stirreth not the heart, mind, or soul.
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