Jonathan Turley, professor of constitutional law at George Washington University, appeared on Countdown last Friday. He aptly
pointed out:
[T]he 109 Congress, I think, will go down in history as the vanishing Congress. You know, it is virtually nonexistent in the functioning of government. They have yielded so much ground to the administration. And this is one of those issues [Ed.-privacy] that's crying out for Congressional action. And it's not conservative or liberals. Conservatives feel as deeply about privacy as do liberals, but nobody in Congress is taking this on because it's viewed as critical of the administration.
This point bears repeating, and repeating, and repeating, and repeating. The Republican Congress is a do-nothing Congress that only churns out legislation crafted by K Street and the Bush administration. It performs no oversight. This isn't wise restraint but rather neglect of constitutional duty in absolute deference to K Street and the executive. This will not stand, man.
Fortunately, Karl Rove's message to Republicans seems to be, 'stay the course.' I caught his fundraiser speech he gave to the New Hampshire Republican Party, rerun last night. He lied about the economy, misrepresented where Democrats stand on spending, played the cut-and-run meme, and tried to push Bush's brilliance and intellectual energy.
Throughout his stale speech, though, was the subtext of a continuing lack of accountability. For instance, he claimed that Republicans were for "lower spending," failing to acknowledge the reality of wasteful spending which many conservatives and other fiscal hawks outside of DC continue to decry. This is an issue which demotivates the Republican base and which we can only cause to force Republicans to choose their grassroots over K Street. I have no doubt which they will continue to choose as long as they can get away with it.
Before his speech, though, we get a better window into the administration line on spending in an interview Rove did with VictoryNH.com:
"In reality, there are 3 parties in Congress: Republicans, Democrats, and Appropriators. And guess what? The Republicans and Democrats are in a minority. So you need to have this important and executive tool that allows a President to shine a bright light on some unnecessary spending and then to have Congress vote up or down as to whether or not to override his veto."
Laughable. Never mind the unconstitutionality of a line-item veto, the administration's solution involves (predictably) giving them more power. (What was that about limited goverment?) Never mind the fact that Republicans have shown no desire for earmark reform or campaign finance reform or that the president has shown no desire to use his existent veto power (other than as a threat to try to cower Congress on pending insecure ports deals). Nor that the imaginary 'appropriator' majority would still be able to override such action with an up-or-down vote. No, this can only be solved by giving more power to the president.
More to Rove's first point, though, who the hell are these martian appropriators and how were they elected? Who are these mysterious representatives from parts unknown? Who are these non-partisan spenders putting the country on the fast track to higher debt and deficits?
Quite simply, this "unknown" dark force is K Street. The machine which benefits the Republican Party while betraying its conservative cause of limited government and fiscal restraint. That's why K Street must be marginalized by Rove and rationalized in such a slight-of-hand manner.
Obviously, any time you get dubious arguments like this they should be attacked forcefully and repeatedly. Rove is no genius, he's just a little weasel who knows how to exploit opportunities the opposition leave open for him. As we saw with John Murtha yesterday, any and every position Rove (and the Republican Congress) takes can be effectively debunked and denounced. But only if the Democrats stand up to the weakness of Republican lies and speak the strong words of truth.
The Republican Congress is in a dilemma of catering themselves either to the grassroots or to K Street. Based on Rove's comments and the actions of Republicans, the choice has already been made. Democrats should continue to show just how much Republican policies are both bad for the country and a betrayal of its stated mission of government.