Harry Reid again leads group to warmer areas

With the House and Senate in Thanksgiving recess, tradition with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) now is to head for balmy climates during chilly months --- while some other members of Congress are at cold overseas points visiting U.S. troops.

Reid left Washington quietly and without media fanfare yesterday, leading a group that includes his wife and several aides plus five other senators on a paid vacation --- oops! --- or rather a week-long “fact-finding trip” to Guatemala, Columbia, Paraguay and Mexico.

A Reid spokesman said the senators will discuss “trade, counter-narcotics and national security.”

Grumpy Editor notices it all sounds like a repeat of last year’s Christmas break when Reid led a group that included the same number of fellow senators for a week-long trip to Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru for similar talks about “security, counter-narcotics, trade, economic and social development.”

Of course, again there will be sightseeing, including a visit this week to Iguazu Falls, nearly twice as high as Niagara Falls, on the Brazil-Argentina border.

As for further trip details, Reid’s spokesman put a lid on them, citing "security."