Senator Daschle gets taken to the woodshed by the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal in today's edition:
We take it as a compliment that Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle saw fit to rebut one of our editorials on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. At the very least, it means Mr. Daschle's record is finally getting the attention it deserves.More than that, it means that the obstructionism of the Democratic Senate will be on the ballot this fall. Mr. Daschle's bid for a fourth Senate term is the second most important race in the country this year, after the one for the White House, and whether Mr. Daschle prevails may well determine how much President Bush could accomplish if he wins a second term. A Daschle defeat would show that there is a price to be paid for blocking conservative reform.
The South Dakotan has been doing a political two-step his entire career. At home, he presents himself as a cultural conservative, a uniting force in Congress, and a prairie populist who only does what is "good for South Dakota." Yet back in the Beltway, Mr. Daschle is an iron-fisted partisan who leads (or follows) his liberal caucus in attacking most of Mr. Bush's agenda.
The difference this year is that voters are being told about this Jekyll-and-Hyde routine. His GOP challenger, former Congressman John Thune, has been hitting the theme hard. "Whether it's judges, whether it's energy policy, whether it's tax relief for working families in South Dakota, you know, you can go right down the list -- medical malpractice reform to lower health-care costs. Right down the list, things are dying in the United States Senate," said Mr. Thune on Sunday. That's the point we made in a July editorial, "Daschle's Dead Zone," which included the nearby list of legislation that has passed the House but ended up six feet under in the Senate.
This obstructionism has long been a Daschle political strategy, going back to his days as George Mitchell's chief lieutenant during the first Bush Administration. His gamble this year was that the public would blame the GOP majority for any Congressional gridlock. Yet now that his game is becoming a topic of debate back home, Mr. Daschle is having to explain to voters how permanent deadlock is somehow desirable. His response has been to accuse his critics of being "against South Dakota" and to furiously spin the record.
Consider a recent letter he sent to a constituent trying to rebut our "Dead Zone" editorial. He claims that "the Senate has confirmed over 95 percent of the President's judges." What he neglects to say is that most of those were district judges who the Senators traditionally co-nominate and then rubber-stamp. Of far more important appellate appointments, the Daschle Democrats have filibustered 10, refusing to allow a simple up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.
Likewise, Mr. Daschle presents himself as open to class-action tort reform. But the truth is this reform was on its way to passage with 62 votes (enough to overcome even a filibuster) this year until Mr. Daschle demanded that his caucus be allowed to load it up with unrelated amendments. It died. The Senator has also bragged about his support for Healthy Forests legislation that passed in late 2003, but that support came only after Mr. Daschle was caught slipping a special forest-cleanup provision for South Dakota into a spending bill and so had to go along with the wider legislation. Before that he had helped Eastern Democrats obstruct the bill.
Mr. Daschle's TV ads, by the way, show him embracing Mr. Bush. We'll soon find out if South Dakotans are willing to applaud this dance for a fourth time, or if they'd rather have Congress get something done.
Senate Graveyard
Legislation that has passed the House in the 108th Congress but is dying in
the world's greatest deliberative body.Bill, vote in House, and date passed the House:
Welfare Reform 230-192 Feb. 13, 2003
Human Cloning Prohibition Act 241-155 Feb. 27, 2003
Medical Malpractice 229-196 March 3, 2003
Bankruptcy Reform 315-113 March 17, 2003
Pension Security Act 271-157 May 14, 2003
Flag Burning and Desecration 300-125 June 3, 2003
Class Action Fairness Act 253-170 June 12, 2003
Death Tax Repeal 264-163 June 18, 2003
Head Start Reform 217-216 July 25, 2003
Energy Bill 246-180 Nov. 21, 2003
Marriage Penalty Repeal 323-95 April 28, 2004
Make 10% Tax Bracket Permanent 344-76 May 13, 2004
Source: Thomas and WSJ Research
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