Republicans are true time-wasters

[DogPoundPup]

I am impressed that The Augusta Chronicle editorial page has taken on such a controversial topic as congressional time-wasting ("Time's a-wastin'," Aug. 23). I'm impressed because The Chronicle usually likes to paint their heroes, the Republicans, in a much better light than would be the case if we started a discussion about time-wasting.
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The Chronicle was absolutely correct that this Congress has had very little legislation passed, but the paper's aim was off when it implied that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were to blame. The blame for this lack of progress lies firmly with the Republican minority, which has executed more filibusters than at any other time in history.

The real irony to this is that when the Democrats were in the minority and used the filibuster to block some of the Republican legislation, the Republicans considered changing the rules regarding filibusters. I wish they had.

Then, the present majority, the Democrats, could have used the so-called "nuclear option" (or "nucular," if you're a Texan president) to put an end to these time-wastin' filibusters, and we Americans could have seen some progress made on important issues, such as ending this senseless war in Iraq or providing health care to the 40 million or so Americans who, unlike members of Congress, can't afford it.

So Bravo to The Chronicle for shedding some light on the Republicans and their time-wastin'.

John Gary Pullen

Grovetown
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/090108/let_471358.shtml