Wednesday, April 23, 2008 | 2:55 p.m.
WASHINGTON - That silence you've been hearing all day from the north side of the Capitol (or on C-Span2, for viewers at home) is the sound of senators not getting along again.
The Senate has been doing a lot of nothing today. It happened like this: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wanted to give the presidential candidates a chance to return to town to vote on a workplace discrimination bill -- and the Republicans wouldn't allow other work in the meantime.
Who's at fault? You decide.
Senate rules had established that the chamber would vote this morning on a bill that would broaden workers' ability to sue employers for pay discrimination. Currently workers have six months from their first paycheck to complain.
Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama were coming back from the campaign trail for the vote. Last night, Reid asked Republicans for consent to reshuffle the line-up so the workplace bill could be voted on in the evening and the chamber could attend to other business -- a veterans bill -- during the day.
Republicans are not looking to make life easier for the Democrats. They declined. As the minority, their best weapon is obstructionism. Plus, Republican leadership opposes the pay discrimination bill as a windfall for trial lawyers.
And so the chamber has been sitting dark.
Each side held press conferences saying the other was wrong.
In just a little while, the Senate will hold its first vote of the day (or evening.)
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