Rift Apparent in New Democrat Majority

Washington, DC (TLS). Less than one week after seizing control of Congress, the new Democrat majority is exhibiting a major rift within its ranks. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid sent a letter to President Bush demanding an immediate troop withdrawal, and Sunday morning Pelosi stated on a televised news program that President Bush will have to justify each request for funds for the war in Iraq before any consideration is given to appropriations.

Pelosi's statement, however, was not echoed by Senator Joe Biden, D-Delware, who stated that Congress must not second-guess the President's war strategy as a prerequisite for Congressional funding. Biden wasn't the only one. Pelosi's comments sent many House Democrats scurrying for cover, distancing themselves from Pelosi's veiled threat to cut off funding for the troops.

The two statements point to sharp disagreements among Democrats concerning the President's strategy in Iraq. With Pelosi, Reid, Leahy, Conyers, and others on one side displaying the 'cut-and-run' mentality of Cindy Sheehan and her gang, Democrats such as Joe Biden, Carl Levin, Joe Lieberman, and others urge a very cautious approach in bringing to a close America's involvement in Iraq, recognizing that any strategy that endangers the region and leads to the perception that the U.S. has lost its resolve is terribly misguided.

This is not the only source of the rift among the Demos, however.

No sooner had Pelosi and company announced that the new Congress would work a full five-day work-week, obviously a slap at the Republicans who worked four days, Pelosi's 2nd-in-command, Rep. Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader, sent a memo stating that today, Monday Jan. 8, the House is not in session. Of course, next Monday is Martin Luther King Day, another Monday that Congress will not be in session.

According to sources on the Hill, the reason the Demos gave the House today off is a football game--the Ohio State Buckeyes are playing the Florida Gators for the national championship.

Not only that, but the memo Hoyer sent to 'The Weekly Leader' indicates that on Tuesday Congressmen are not expected to be in the chamber for votes until 3 PM.

At this rate the infamous 'first 100 hours' will last for months. So much for the rhetoric of urgency one heard from the Democrats during the campaign.

Even as a major rift develops among the Democrat leadership, the Party plans to launch endless hearings and investigations focusing on Iraq.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-MN

U.S. House Representative Chris Van Hollen, Chairman of the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee, has stated that the Republicans went AWOL when it came to holding the Bush Administration responsible for what he sees as a flawed strategy. His remedy? Haul Administration officials before Congress to answer charges of 'government fraud.'

One can only envision countless hearings that drag on into infinity, baseless charges, innuendo, and character assassination, all in an attempt to cash in on the present political climate in the country that seems to indicate that Americans want a different course in Iraq. What they did NOT vote for are the witch-hunts promised by Democrats such as Van Hollen in the House and Harry Reid in the Senate, who has already indicated that at least eleven Senate hearings on Iraq will be held within the next few weeks.

Senator Patrick 'Leaky' Leahy

Sen. Patrick 'Leaky' Leahy, D-Connecticut, has been whining that the Administration refuses to provide requested sensitive information concerning the handling of the War on Terror. We can rest assured that Leaky will take his 'concerns' to the press on a regular basis and make much political hay before cameras concerning the lack of cooperation by Bush officials.

Leahy, of course, is the Senator who was once forced to resign his position on a powerful Senate committee due to his news leaks of classified information. It is no wonder that the Administration is reluctant to provide highly sensitive documents concerning the United States and its fight against enemies who wish to destroy us, when it cannot be assumed that the person requesting the information will not provide classified material to the New York Times, in violation of the law.

The Democrats have a major problem on their hands with Leahy in charge of a powerful Senate Committee. Sources inside the Senate have whispered that the committee would be better served by having someone in charge who did not have the baggage that Leaky Leahy carries...not to mention that the Administration would be more apt to cooperate with the committee if there were someone in charge who could be trusted.

Thus, with Senators openly backing away from Pelosi, and with Hoyer backing off from the much-touted 'five day work week,' and with Van Hollen, Reid, and Leahy attempting to hamstring the Bush Administration in its fight in the War on Terror, it would seem that the Democrats are off to a dismal start. The one silver lining in the developing fiasco is that there are cooler heads, such as Biden and Lieberman, who are putting the brakes on Pelosi's extremist agenda.