HARTFORD  - On Tuesday, the House and Senate Democrats left no doubt that they are incapable of leading the Legislative branch of government when they decided to take no action on the state’s $625 million budget deficit with six months left in the fiscal year.

After 15 minutes, the House Democrats adjourned, failing to adopt a budget reduction plan, hear or debate the Republican alternatives or even give a hint that they truly get the state of Connecticut’s economy.

House Republicans, led by Larry Cafero, R-Norwalk and Senate Republicans, led by John McKinney, R-Fairfield, had their caucus members ready to go but the Democrats were having no part of it.

In the House, State Rep. John C. Geragosian, D-New Britain, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said the Democrats wanted to digest the proposal, even though it had been in public view for several weeks.  In the Senate, there was much of the same sentiment, but with more intrigue as a rump group of Democratic Senators were ready to scrap the Citizen’s Election Fund; the program that could provide up to $60 million next year in taxpayer financed funds for candidates.

Senate Democrats have also been divided over the long-term leadership status of President Pro Tem Donald  E. Williams, Jr., D-Brooklyn, who has been under fire behind-the-scenes on several fronts.

A group of dissatisfied Democrats in the upper chamber have been quietly hinting they would support some of the Republican proposals to cut spending and seek more concessions from the public sector unions.

But the scuttling of the CEP was the big story in the Senate as State Sen. Edith G. Prague, D-Norwich, had been publicly calling for its termination. Prague, the darling of the left and the public sector unions, has argued, precious state money should go toward education and health care rather than political purposes.

Rank and file Democrats made themselves scarce after both houses adjourned while Cafero brought the entire Republican caucus to stand in the hallway of the ornate House chamber.

“This has been like “Groundhog Day” for the last two years,” said Deputy Republican Leader Bill Hamzy, R-Bristol. “It’s the same thing over and over again, not taking action when it’s needed.”

With the holiday fast approaching, it is unclear whether the Democrats will come back before the end of the year even though the interest on the state debt keeps adding up and the deficit continues to grow.