Majority Leader Tom Daschle has a couple of problems which, frankly, I am thrilled to be able to point out as the Brethren in the National Press Corps ponder a dearth of material during the August recess.
First, there is the general problem of holding up legislation which has passed both the House and the Senate but which is not yet ready to go to the President for his signature.
As sophisticated Mullings readers know, when the House and the Senate pass different versions of the same bill the differences are ironed out in what is called a Conference Committee - made up of Members of the House and Senate.
These Conferences are so important because the House and the Senate most pass identical legislation for it to go to the President.
On Capitol Hill the most common phrase dealing with legislation is: We'll fix it in conference.
The Hollywood equivalent of this is: We'll fix it in post.
Ok, to Daschle's first dilemma. Daschle wants to run President. He wants to run for President in 2004. In order for Tom Daschle to run for President in 2004 (and have any reasonable expectation of winning), George W. Bush must have an unsuccessful term.
In order for George W. Bush to have an unsuccessful term, Daschle must prevent Conferences from being appointed (or producing signable legislation if they DO meet) in the areas of Education, Health Care, and Energy, to mention but three, prior to the mid-term elections in 2002.
If Daschle prevents that legislation from getting to President Bush, the President MIGHT look bad, however it is more likely that the White House will pin the tail on Daschle's donkey for being the obstructionist.
But even if Daschle looks good in the process, guess who looks better? A more dangerous competitor: House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt who also wants to be President.
Here it is in a nutshell: If Daschle bottles up legislation and succeeds in making the President look bad, it might help the Democrats take back the House in 2002. That will make Dick Gephardt the Speaker of the House, meaning Daschle will no longer have the Democratic stage, upon which to strut and fret, to himself.
So, either President Bush gets the legislation he wants, or Daschle runs the risk of improving the standing of the man he most fears - Gephardt.
Rock. Daschle. Hard Place.
Here's another little conundrum facing the obstructionist-in-chief. Daschle's new best friend is Jim Jeffords. Remember him? Jeffords, the man who, because he handed control of the Senate to Daschle and the Democrats, was hailed by the National Press Corps as the epitome of personal strength, honor, and goodness.
We now find Mr. Jeffords scraping the Vermont clay from his feet demanding payback for, what some on the conservative side of the ledger might call, his treachery.
There is this federally-sanctioned price-fixing deal for dairy farmers in Vermont called the Northeast Dairy Compact. The Northeast Dairy Compact sets price supports - artificially high price supports - for dairy products.
Midwestern diary farmers - the Midwest being an area of the country which includes South Dakota home state of the aforementioned Tom Daschle and his Democratic colleague Tim Johnson who, as it happens is up for re-election in 2002 and is by no means a shoo-in - hate the Northeast Dairy Compact and want it to be allowed to die when it expires on September 30th.
Either Daschle caves into Jeffords' demand for an extension of the price fixing scheme for dairy products from the Northeast to the detriment of his own region, or he tells Jeffords "tough noogies" or words to that effect.
Jeffords is trying to sell the idea that Republicans will be hurt if the Northeast Dairy Compact is not extended, but he's not a good spinner. It is a Democratic problem. All that is required of the Republicans in the Senate is to emulate the dog in the Sherlock Holmes story: Do nothing. The Midwest Democrats are lined up in opposition to Jeffords. Let them lift the heavy milk cans.
This issue is why the DEMOCRATS pulled their own farm bill from the Senate floor before the August recess and passed the House version.
� 
