More Victories

The House Leadership, a day after being forced to drop the ANWR drilling provision in the budget reconciliation bill, has now dropped the whole bill:

House Republican leaders scuttled a vote Thursday on a $51 billion budget-cut package in the face of a revolt by lawmakers over scaling back Medicaid, food stamp and student loan programs.

The development was a major setback for the GOP on Capitol Hill and for President Bush, who has made cuts to benefit programs a central pillar in his budget plan.

The decision by GOP leaders came despite a big concession to moderates Wednesday, when the leaders dropped provisions to open the Arctic National Refuge to oil and gas exploration, as well as a plan allowing states to lift a moratorium on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

"We weren't quite ready to go to the floor," Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said five hours after recessing the House for closed-door meetings aimed a picking up votes from wavering Republicans.

Look at this. Congressmen representing their districts and their constituents over the Party. We might have a democracy here after all.

Somebody needs to get Roy Blunt the hammer that Tom DeLay's been wielding all these years. I don't think they'll let him have it in prison, anyway.