Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Parsing Bi-Partisanship

Friday, May 4, 2001

The Senate Democrats are in a snit because they will not be allowed to issue "blue slips" by which they can single-handedly hold up a nomination for an individual to be a Federal Judge if (a) they don't like that person and, (b) that person is from their home state.

It is not clear whether the MSS Hillary, having no home state to speak of, would qualify for a blue slip under any circumstances.

To indicate the depths of their snittiness, the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee walked out of a Committee meeting yesterday, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said the Democrats would "not allow [a] vote" on any nominees.

This, in Washington, is seen as another indication of George W. Bush's lack of bi-partisanship.

The White House countered by leaking the fact that the President is planning to nominate Judge Roger Gregory who was seated on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals as a recess appointment by Bill Clinton last year.

This puts Tom Daschle in the uncomfortable position of threatening to hold up the permanent confirmation of the first Black Judge in the history of the 4th Circuit.

The House and Senate, with moderate Democrats joining Republicans, were poised, yesterday, to pass a budget outline which calls for $1.35 trillion in tax relief over 11 years and holding discretionary spending increases to five percent.

The President wanted $1.6 trillion in cuts, and wanted to hold down spending to an increase of only four percent.

This, therefore, goes down as a loss for President Bush, not bi-partisanship.

Yesterday, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, held a press conference and put on a full-court whine about the President's budget proposal and all the lack of funding for all the programs that Dick Gephardt wants and which he isn't likely to get.

He launched a 500- plus word diatribe ending with the words:

"I am ashamed of what is going to happen in the House � We will fight in every way we know how for the people that sent us here and to try to make this program a better program for the American people."

Gephardt, bi-partisan; Bush partisan. Gephardt then took the first question:

Q. Mr. Gephardt, as you may know, 10 Blue Dog Democrats signed a letter yesterday afternoon to [House Budget Committee Chairman Jim] Nussle saying they are supporting the budget agreement. Doesn't that suggest that some Democrats not only are supporting it but apparently are a part of the negotiations, and that, since the Blue Dogs describe themselves as the centrists of this place, that maybe the budget has moved toward the center?

Oops. Gephardt called the budget, "a fraud" and "a sham." This is called attempting to foster bi-partisanship.

Here was the next question:

Q. To follow up on that, though, in the Senate, you have a group of Senate moderate Democrats who seem to support this budget, and the negotiations that were being done behind closed doors were being done with a good many of them to reach a tax cut number that they could live with. I mean, is this a break within the Democrats between the view you represent and maybe the moderates over here?

Memo to Dick Gephardt: Some days it just doesn't pay to hold a press conference.

Random leads:

-- WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Chinese military Thursday refused to provide a U.S. inspection team with the power that is "absolutely essential" as it tries to assess damage to the Navy surveillance plane grounded on China's Hainan Island, the Pentagon said.

The bi-partisan Democrats are insisting we consult with these guys before proceeding with an anti-missile system to protect ourselves.

-- SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea berated the United States on Thursday for putting the communist state on its annual list of countries sponsoring terrorists, calling Washington the "kingpin of international terrorism."

The bi-partisan Democrats are insisting talk seriously with THESE guys about arms reduction.

-- TOKYO (Reuters) - The suspected eldest son and heir-apparent of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will be expelled to China on Friday after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport, a government source said. Japanese media had said Kim merely wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

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