Hitting The Jim

SC Republican Sen. Jim DeMint is the king of obstruction, personally placing holds on any legislation he doesn't personally approve of, which from this administration is basically nothing.  Therefore, every single piece of legislation requires 60 votes in the Senate just to get past a DeMint hold and has for the last two years.

And Jim DeMint is proud of that fact.

Sen. Jim DeMint, in an unusual assertion of unilateral power, warned the other 99 senators that for the rest of their legislative session this year, all bills and nominations that are slated for unanimous passage must go through his office for review.

The move by the South Carolina Republican, who has a growing national following among conservative activists, is his most direct challenge yet to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and it's increased speculation that he's gunning for the Kentucky Republican's leadership post.

DeMint has repeatedly denied that he wants to challenge McConnell as Senate Republican leader. However, DeMint has backed numerous conservative outsiders in primaries who've toppled candidates preferred by the Republican establishment.

DeMint defended his action.

"I'm doing the job South Carolinians elected me to do, which is to review each bill carefully before it is passed, not after," DeMint told McClatchy. "Only in Washington is it a radical idea to read a bill and know how much it costs before we agree to pass it. I'm not going to sit by quietly while big spenders try to secretly ram through bills that increase the debt and expand the size of government."

Right.  Meanwhile, Jim DeMint anyway believes the most important person in Washington is Jim DeMint.  Rumors are DeMint is angling for Senate majority leader if the GOP retakes the Senate this year.  Here's a guy who believes his job is to personally say no to everything, and that Congress should do as little as possible in the worst economy in generations.

As long as Republicans have 41 Senators, they can block everything they want to.  Perhaps it's time for those rules to change.