These are my top five failures of the Republican Congress for 2004:
- Continued support and funding for the war in Iraq. No explanation necessary.
- The Republican Budget Resolution fell $8.6 billion short of authorized funding for No Child Left Behind Act. The Republican Budget Resolution provided inadequate resources for education. Over two years ago, parents and teachers watched President Bush and Republicans and Democrats in Congress work together to enact the bipartisan public school reforms in the NCLB.
Demorats committed to raising education standards, providing a quality teacher in every classroom, and closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged children.
Unfortunately, since then, the Bush Administration has retreated from its commitment to adequately fund school reform - potentially undermining children's academic success. The Republican Budget Resolution reflects the wrong priorities by providing trillions in tax cuts, while underfunding public education.
- The Republican Congress Failed to enact a comprehensive energy bill, leaving the issue to be debated yet again in the future. Why would they enact an energy bill? We are busy fighting a war for oil, isn't that enough?
- The Republicans let $1.1 billion of funds for the State Children's Health Insurance Program expire. As a result, the number of children insured through the SCHIP is expected to fall by more then 200,000 by 2007.
- The Republican Congress did not extend budget enforecement laws. In the 1990's, budget enforement laws helped decrease the deficit by setting annual caps on appropriations. But the budget contraints expired in 2002, and the Republican Congress failed to renew them. They would rather run up a major deficit that we will spend years trying to decrease.
This is a short list. Many Republicans are uncaring, heartless individuals. If they do not like a program, they just do not fund it. How convenient!!
I am sure that all of you in dKos have Republican Congress failures of your own that you would like to share. I would like to read those failures. Bush failures are always welcome, too.