At Last, the Age of Reason is Upon Us. “GOP to block all bills until tax cuts are addressed.”-MSNBC

The latest move by the Republican Party, to hold up other important public issues in Congress, can be fairly described as an extreme case of bullying. But why not, especially when the opposition party is as weak as Democrats are right now.

When signals are sent out from Democratic leaders that tax cuts for the wealthy are “negotiable,” and Obama has come right out and said that he will not allow the middle class tax cuts expire at years end, you get the following confident position by the party of bullying.

MSNBC: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced this morning that Republicans will block any legislation from coming to the Senate floor until two key economic issues are addressed: funding the government (the “continuing resolution” which must pass to prevent a government shutdown) and the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts.

McConnell said that members of his caucus are united in the pledge to use procedural votes to prevent any other non-economic issues -- including the new START treaty, the DREAM Act, or the defense authorization bill that contains a potential repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy – from coming to the floor for debate.

"Republicans have pleaded with Democrats to put aside their wish-list - to focus on the things Americans want us to focus on," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "They've ignored us. The voters repudiated their agenda at the polls. They've ignored them."

Despite the polls that say otherwise, Republicans are confident Democrats will fail to bring that up too, and give in without a fight.

Related articles

• GOP to block all bills until tax cuts are addressed (firstread.msnbc.msn.com)
• Senate Republicans: No Legislation Until After Tax Cut Extension (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Senate GOP pledges to block all bills until tax dispute resolved (cnn.com)