Heidi Alexander: “There must be something about the interval between the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas and the effect it has on our…”

“There must be something about the interval between the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas and the effect it has on our Democratic friends. Again, this year, as they did last year, they begin to disappear for hours at a time into a room together, without any Republicans or any other kind of person there to talk and they get excited about issues and they come together. They persuade each other that they are right, and then they rush to the Senate floor after several hours and offer a bill of the most urgent kind. In this case, it is about double-paned vinyl windows. Here we are. The Senator from Oregon, a good colleague, a distinguished friend--this may be a good bill, but he is asking by his request that we not debate, that we not amend, and that we just pass it. He is saying, at the same time, that this must be the most urgent thing before us. We have suggested to the majority leader that we focus on dealing with funding the government first, since we run out of money Friday, and deal with the tax issue next since taxes automatically go up the first of the year.”