Biden to be barred......

from Democratic Caucus Meetings.

Politico's Mike Allen is previewing an article set to appear in Sunday's Las Vegas Sun about Harry Reid's efforts to roll back the Vice President's expanded role under Dick Cheney by barring Joe Biden from Senate Democratic caucus meetings:

"The new Congress will reassert its constitutional independence from the White House by barring the vice president from joining in internal Senate deliberations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in an interview with The Sun. The move is intended to restore checks and balances to a system that tilted heavily toward the White House in the Bush presidency. By giving Vice President Dick Cheney regular access to Senate Republican caucuses, at times with White House advisers in tow, party unity became more important to many Republicans than upholding their responsibilities to provide legislative oversight of the executive, experts say. Asked if Vice-President Joe Biden will be allowed to attend Senate Democratic caucus meetings, Reid said: 'Absolutely not.'"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/06/biden-to-be-barred-from-d_n_148966.html


Edited to remove snarky remarks. SS

He won't do a damned thing. Spineless is right.

not ours. If so, Reid couldn't have done anything about that. :shrug:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/12/biden-camp-says.html

snip//

But Biden spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander notes that Biden had "no intention" of going to the meetings anyway and there is no conflict at all between him and Reid.

"Vice President-elect Biden had no intention of continuing this practice started by Vice President Cheney of regularly attending internal legislative branch meetings," she told ABC News. "He firmly believes in restoring the Office of the vice president to its historical role. He and Sen. Reid see eye to eye on this."

After all, it is simply constructive criticism. Besides, tidbits of Democrat is one of our favorite appetizers here.

idea to do so only when they actually deserve it. This isn't one of those times.
And I get your drift; lots of that going on around here lately.

Exactly?

that said, Reid is a spineless SOB. But someone who is worse runs the other 1/2 of congress. Pelosi does not belong there. Get rid of her already.

- and will define the Democrats as the Majority party.

And does not get to decide who takes part in the Senate Republican caucuses! The Republican leadership makes that decision, and the last time I checked Senator Reid wasn't a member of the Republican leadership.

:eyes:

Trust me, whomever we replace him with will become enemy #1 at DU so I see no difference with who the majority leader is.

And republican caucus can do whatever they want to do. Democrats have no control over that.

Gee, it must be hard reckoning truth from fantasy? There's no ONE OPINION on a multi-dimensional message board. :(

before Cheney made it essentially "co-president"

Reid has been chicken-shit every time it counted with the Republican Ruled Senate. Replace this worthless man to go join his (nepotist benefiting) sons in Nevada. The whole corrupt family deserves each other. :nuke:

seriously

Oh and according to CPAC they don't see him as much of a conservative

http://www.acuratings.org/2007all.htm#NV

"Everything She does is Magic" (The Police)? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFZ7-fgmQqk&feature=related

IMO, you're way too trusting of politicians. :(

Damn, now's not the time to kick back.

:eyes:

forgive me for pointing out the clearly obvious. VP is NOT a part of the legislative branch. What Cheney did was not part of the Constitution but he went in there and manhandled republicans like Jim Jeffords to the point that Jeffords left the party.

Biden may go to the senate to help get Obama's legislation passed but I would hope to god he doesn't turn out to be a Cheney. I would love to have a VP that isn't a DICK, both figuratively and namewise.

thanks to the upcoming Obama administration are just a tad bit ... naive. :-)

We must guard against the all too often "useful idiots" mode that many within the Senate fall into when they wish to EMPOWER corporate interests over that of the Average American. The GOP led Senate "pulled out all the stops" to include Cheney sitting in on meetings.

WE NEED BIDEN to not be formally barred in order to even BEGIN to take back our democratic republic from the PLUTOCRACY that has hi-jacked our Congress.

Dammit, we have to always hold their feet to the fire. We have no chance with Republicans but even DEMOCRATIC LEADERS must be forced to do the right thing lest they covertly "give in" to corporate interests.

I've been following politics long enough to know not to shove my head up my ass when making broadscale assumptions about other DUers.

I say let the republican rule changes come back to bite em in the ass!
People need to get on the phone and Let reid know!

Good to see some rules coming back again in government.

However as a Democrat he may or may not have business at a Democrat's meeting. However The Democratic Caucus of the Senate is not a Meeting of Democrats with a focus on the Senate, its a meeting of the Senate with a focus on Democrats. So Biden, as of the moment of his resignation from the Senate, is out. No problem with that. We do have 3 branches of Government and Biden has must moved from one to the other. Just as you can't go back and sleep in a house you have sold, his days as part of the Senate and its meetings is over.

It's perfectly reasonable. Reid is simply making it clear that, just because the Republicans tried to fuzz the line between the Legislative and Executive branches, that doesn't mean that the Democrats intend to repeat that mistake. Unless and until there is a 50/50 tie that requires a VP vote to break it, the Vice-President has no business in the Senate.

I agree he shouldn't be looking over everyones's shoulder but should be allowed to make some courtesy calls to promote the administrations adgenda/position. An uninformed VP is not an asset.

Biden supports this action, this is the media trying to make something that isn't there. The Vice Presidents were never allowed to attend their party caucus, nor were President's until Cheney and every one was too afraid to tell him to get out or the Republicans didn't want to tell him to get out. This is an attempt to return the Vice President's office to a normal Constitutional position instead of Cheney "King of the Hill"

That's a power I didn't know the majority leader had. Please enlighten us.

Wants to return the VP position back to the executive branch where it is suppose to be.

This isn't a big deal. I imagine that Biden and Reid discussed this announcement. He isn't barred now, just when he becomes VP

More like senators protecting the senate. I just thought I read that in the master of the Senate book.

follow the dirty, rotten policies of the Republicans.

Knowing that Cheney attended, it is easy to see how Snowe, Collins, and some others always ended up in lock step with R's.

Though I berated Landrieau, the Nelsons and others for voting with Republicans so many times and though I would hope for more Dem solidarity in the next admin and possibly some R support.

I can imagine how Cheney virtually gave them orders.

We have had rampaging disease in Congress under this administration.

It's time to revert to the our people's Constitution and throw out the Cheney - Federal Society version of the Constitution.

Stick with the design of the Founding Fathers for BALANCE OF POWERS.

Thanks for your great post!

interests to that of Cheney?

I have no faith in REID, that's why I'm curious why he's in such a hurry to bar VP Biden.

Senator Reid (D-NV) needs to be ousted as Leader.

then you can tell all the other DUers what they think and believe in since you're running for the official "I know everything and everyone else is just stupid" job here at DU.

Thank you, Senator Reid and VP-elect Biden!

Biden was in complete agreeance with this too. The VP is not the 'thug of the senate' - a role that Cheney took on during the early years of the Bush administration.

Biden is to provide a vote if there is a tiebreaker. Biden will also be there to help get Obama's agenda passed but not with a heavy hand like Cheney did. Remember, the reason why Jeffords left the republican party was because Cheney was putting the pressure on Jeffords to vote lockstep with the rest of the party.

And Biden does, in some ways, have a voice in the Democratic Caucus. They picked his former Chief-of-Staff Ted Kaufman to replace Biden in the senate. So in a way Biden will be there.

This is sooo procedural. I can understand Reid protecting his turf from the influence of the Executive Branch. I may like Biden more than Reid, but I certainly love the separation of powers more than any passing political affiliation I might hold.

... Is when "the man" is one of their own.