“We’re not doing anything you want until you do what we want.” That appears to be the new normal for Senate Republicans. Be it raising the debt ceiling or confirming nominations, they’ve decided they’re not adults, they’re two-year-old children who will throw tantrums unless and until they get their way. The latest example is President Obama’s nomination of John Bryson to the job of Secretary of Commerce, replacing Gary Locke (who’s off to be Ambassador to China). The Republicans refuse to even hold a vote on Bryson until Obama submits pending trade deals with Panama, Colombia and South Korea to Congress for their approval.

I remember a bunch of confirmation votes during the Bush Administration when the Democrats didn’t like the nominees much but said “The President is entitled to fill these posts with the people he wants” and went along.

I blame Senator McConnell for this change in behavior. As far as I can tell he doesn’t give a rip about the health and welfare of the United States; he cares solely about his ability to exercise power on behalf of the Republican Party’s wealthy constituents. The reason these trade deals haven’t been submitted is that the Obama Administration added some terms to them which protect US workers who lose their jobs as a result of the deals. Only in the Republicans’ minds can helping Americans whose jobs are outsourced be deemed a bad thing.