DOHA IS DEAD

Perhaps.

Chairman and Ranking Douche Bag of the House Ways and Means Committee sees irreconcilable differences in the current round of multilateral trade negotiations. (He would rather put his resources into securing bilateral deals and bullying poor, cash strapped African and Caribbean Basin nations into trade concessions.) That, according to this morning's National Journal Congress Daily briefing (this link may get you through the subscription firewall).

While the House plays no constitutional role in ratifying international treaties (that's the Senate's role), the Ways and Means committee does have jurisdiction over legislation likely to affect federal tax revenues (such as removing taxes from imported goods). And nothing can happen in the committee without Thomas' say so.

Of course, the douche bag is retiring at the end of this term, so his chairmanship is up for grabs in the 2007 Congress. I'm only an armchair inside baseball Congressional analyst, so I can't say for sure that whomever comes along after Thomas won't have the power and control to drive this thing home, but this statement--on top of the countless delays and mounting failures--could be the straw that breaks Doha's back.