This full version of this article was originally published on TheHill.com, linked below.
By Rick Manning
Nothing is more fun in Washington than a good election cleansing followed by the spin doctors trying to define what it means. Tuesday’s bloodletting was no different, but that time is almost over as we move to the practical impact stage.
Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) reported intention to go all out on his nuclear option by jamming as many as 50 more of President’s Obama appointments through the lame-duck session — as the Republican incoming majority helplessly watches him — should send a clear signal to Republicans that there will be no conciliation from the left.
If Reid proceeds, the response should be immediate and swift. Rather than also giving the exiled Reid another bite of setting his party’s funding priorities for the rest of the fiscal year, Republicans have to demand that a funding bill only go to March. This allows their newly elected colleagues to play a role in the future fiscal direction of the nation.
