BLOCKBUSTER-- Coming in Sunday's LAS VEGAS SUN, By Lisa Mascaro/Washington Bureau -- BIDEN TO BE BARRED FROM SENATE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS MEETINGS AS PART OF REID EFFORT TO RESTORE CHECKS AND BALANCES: 'The new Congress will reassert its constitutional independence from the White House by barring the vice president from joining in internal Senate deliberations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in an interview with The Sun. The move is intended to restore checks and balances to a system that tilted heavily toward the White House in the Bush presidency. By giving Vice President Dick Cheney regular access to Senate Republican caucuses, at times with White House advisers in tow, party unity became more important to many Republicans than upholding their responsibilities to provide legislative oversight of the executive, experts say. Asked if Vice-President Joe Biden will be allowed to attend Senate Democratic caucus meetings, Reid said: 'Absolutely not.' Must credit Las Vegas Sun. Full story 2 a.m. Sunday at http://www.lasvegassun.com/Well that's a good sign, isn't it?
It will be interesting to see how Vice President Biden, who actually will have almost no authority granted to him by the Constitution, fits into the Obama White House equation. Biden's a foreign policy heavyweight, but he'll be part of a team of other foreign policy heavyweights - Hillary, Bob Gates, etc. I do expect him to be Obama's wise(-cracking) old sage, offering advice for a wide range of issues. Biden himself even promised that, for every major decision, he will "be in the room." But I'm glad that room won't be where the Senate Democratic Caucus meets.
Good rule of thumb for Biden: whatever Dick Cheney did, yeeeahhh... you pretty much just wanna do, like, the EXACT OPPOSITE of that.
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