Harry Reid is a Weak Leader

I'm sure the media will lionize Harry Reid as a great Majority Leader since it now appears that he has assembled the 60 votes needed to pass Obamacare.

They will be wrong. If there's one thing the Obamacare debate has proven it's how incredibly weak a leader Harry Reid is. A strong Democrat leader (LBJ comes to mind) would have had those votes lined up without all the hoo-hah we've seen in the last few days. But even though Harry had 60 Democrats (or equivalent) to work with, he was still played like a cheap fiddle by a few who realized his weakness and took advantage of it.

• Louisiana Sen. Mary Landreiu squeezed $300 million in your tax money in exchange for her vote.
• Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln got money for her state in exchange for her vote.
• Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman got the much-beloved public option and Medicare buy-in removed in exchange for his vote.
• Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson got a guarantee for reimbursement for any Medicaid overruns in his state, plus some weak language that looks like it might prevent payments for abortions in a few states, but in fact will still require a monthly abortion fee from all participants.
• Vermont Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders got millions in concessions for in exchange for his vote.
• Florida Sen. Bill Nelson got an agreement to grandfather Medicare Advantage enrollees in Florida.
• Montana Sen. Jon Tester got money from some program that makes no sense whatsoever, but will bring dollars to his state.

I'll bet it's not over yet, either. Virginia Sen. Jim Webb has been relatively quiet about all this and it's not certain that he's gotten everything he wants from this deal.

And, in order to pass this bill, they'll have to wheel West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd in via ambulance to cast his feeble vote. They can't even let the old man rest peacefully during what could be his last Christmas.

If they could figure out a way dig Teddy up and get him to vote, they'd do it.

This process is so corrupt it's hard to come up with a proper description. In addition, Reid has blocked any amendments...ANY...to his bill. It's take it or leave it, no changes, no improvements, no Republican ideas. It's clearly as fragile as a crystal goblet - on the edge of shattering at the slightest impact.

Harry Reid is weak and the other Democrats know it. Frankly, I'm not sure they'll be all that unhappy when Reid loses next year.