The Washington Post’s series on Vice President Dick Cheny is causing quite a stir. Cheney’s claim that his office is “not an office within the Executive Branch” is only fueling the rage against him. House Majority leader Rahm Emanuel responded by threatening to cut off funding to Cheney:
“Today, we discovered that everything we learned in U.S. government class was wrong. Evidently, the Vice President does not consider himself a part of the executive branch, and therefore believes he can obstruct meaningful oversight and avoid being held accountable. If the Vice President truly believes he is not a part of the executive branch, he should return the salary the American taxpayers have been paying him since January 2001, and move out of the home for which they are footing the bill.”
Indeed, there is substantial demand out there amongst Democrats for some response to Dick Cheney. Naturally, people look to presidential candidates to lead the charge. Speaking to a crowd in Rochester, N.H., Sen. Dodd resisted the urge to pander by calling for Cheney’s impeachment and instead offered a sober and what he believes is a practical and serious response to the Cheney issue:
“There are too many other issues out there the American public were hoping Democrats would decide to address and focus on. That’s the choice you make. Others may make a different focus. My choice would be to focus on other agenda items”
Although, Dodd’s candor was well received when discussing the environment and the need for a carbon tax, but the audience was cool to the idea of ignoring the Cheney issue.
