Senate GOP Unanimously Pledges to Filibuster All Bills Until Dems Agree to Tax Cuts and a Budget

Excellent.

Senate Republicans are vowing to block all legislative business until Democrats hold votes on bills to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and keep the government funded through the new year.

In a letter signed by all 42 Republicans, Republicans warn they will filibuster any attempt to bring forward any bill besides those two measures. That could further complicate Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's desire to complete a laundry list of other bills in the final weeks of the 111th Congress.

It's not like the year-end tax hike is a surprise. It's only been sneaking up on us for most of a decade now. And it is the duty of Congress to pass a budget every year, so that isn't a surprise either. Nevertheless, the Democrats simply let these two critical issues slide because they were too hard.

Now we're running out of time, but the Democrats would rather pass out goodies to constituent groups. I'm impressed (and sadly, a little surprised) that the Senate GOP managed to pull together to tell Democrats that some things are actually more important.

More: Ed has details on a massive omnibus environmental bill that Reid promised his Senate buddies he'd move during the lame duck. Reid agreed to push the environmental bill on Monday night. Perhaps he was heartened by how easily he got Republicans on board his food safety bill?

posted by Gabriel Malor at 12:42 PM

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