THIS GOVERNMENT DOES NOT WORK

Conservative Grover Norquist once said, "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." No fan of government is he. In his and other conservatives' minds, no good comes from the government. In short, their position is that government does not work. And apparently the final days of the Republican-held Congress seem intent on proving this point as they have chosen not to work. Instead, they have chosen to forgo their actual legislative responsibilities and dump about a half-trillion (yes, that's Trillion) dollars in spending bills for the incoming Democratic majority to deal with.

[Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid's office has been alerted by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist that Republicans have decided to pass another stopgap spending measure when they return to Washington next month and leave the rest of the budget work needed to fund the government next year to the Democrats, said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid.

...

Such a move would leave the new Democratic majority with the responsibility to pass the nine remaining spending bills, totaling almost $500 billion for government programs ranging from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to the national parks.

It also would complicate Democrats' plans to focus on their issues such as raising the minimum wage, lifting restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and cutting interest rates on student loans when they take control of both the House and Senate in January.

...

Manley called the Republican action an abdication of responsibility.

``This is only the latest example of why the American people rejected this do-nothing Congress at the ballot box earlier this month,'' he said.

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), in keeping with the wave of bipartisan fellowship that is sweeping through Washington these days stated, “I know a lot of folks just as soon not to see them done this year and let the Democrats struggle here next year.”

Yes, that was Saxby Chambliss, again demonstrating why the GOP was swept from office this past November as they once again choose partisan politics over actually doing the work that the American people put them there to do.

[h/t Think Progress]