Reply #4: Only one man stood in their way.

[welshTerrier2]

I hope you take the time to read the following article from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011802176.html

This past January, with the Democrats' big ethics bill on the table, there was huge pressure on Reid to cave in to the republican demand to give bush a line item veto. Reports indicated that he almost went for the trade to get the ethics bill passed.

Say this out loud to yourself as many times as it takes until it sinks in: giving any president the line item veto will destroy our system of checks and balances and give virtually unlimited imperial power to the executive branch. lather, rinse, repeat!

One man stood in the way of what would have been a death blow to American democracy, the balance of power between the Congress and the executive branch, and the Constitution itself:

For nearly two days, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) -- who jealously guards the Senate's prerogatives on spending matters -- single-handedly blocked efforts to come to an accord on that line-item veto vote.

Byrd is not a well man. He is old and very feeble. His presence in the Congress this past January may have saved our democracy. I, for one, regardless of how old and infirm he may be, greatly appreciate his presence there. Instead of making a case about his "physical condition", you would need to make a case that he is no longer "mentally competent". The standard you apply is totally unacceptable.