Steve Benen figures out their current behaviors -- at least when it comes to the aid-for-small business debacle today.
...In a display that can best be described as insane, Senate Republicans demanded all week that the chamber act on the small-business-incentives measure, and not waste time with measures like campaign-finance reform. But this morning, when the small-business package was ready to move, Republicans balked.
To hear them tell it, GOP senators aren't against helping small businesses -- at least not explicitly -- but they're filibustering to get more time for more votes on more amendments to the bill.
In other words, Republicans have gone from complaining about the bill not coming up sooner to trying to drag out the process out.
So, the good news is the bill isn't dead, at least not yet. The bad news is, Republican senators are acting like spoiled children, in the hopes of eating up valuable pre-recess calendar time, making it impossible for the Senate to do anything else with its limited schedule. The energy bill is in trouble anyway, but by playing games with small businesses, making any progress on energy is looking even less likely.Olympia Snowe was especially embarrassing this morning. Her argument was that the Senate needs to act quickly to help small businesses -- which is why she's supporting the filibuster to prevent a vote on helping small businesses.
And while you're over there, check out the latest proposal for a Constitutional amendment.
Republicans seem to be staggering around making strange patterns in the dust. For some reason the image that came to mind when reading about their contortions was Republicans as played by Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn in "Death Becomes Her." I hope that's an omen. Mitch McConnell lurching along with his head on backwards would make for some badly needed entertainment. Would Fox photoshop his image before airing the video?
