ONE HUNDRED AND THREE DAYS.
The Obama Administration needs to get it together. There are only 103 legislative days left on the U.S. House calendar in 2010. To you and me that would be three months of straight work. For the U.S. House, that’s 103 days at work in Washington from today, February 11, 2010 to October 6, 2010. Time is the one thing you can never get back again and time is running out. Forget about the first 100 days of the Obama presidency this second one hundred days will matter far more.
[check out crewof42 blog]
ONE HUNDRED AND THREE DAYS.
Election day is November 2, 258 days in total, and after that it’s a whole new ball game. You think things are hard to pass now? Every member in a close contest is being ultra careful about what they vote for knowing a vote could come back to bite them during the campaign. The closer we get to November 2 the harder it will be to do anything. Perhaps a few days can be added to the schedule, very few. Members will be chomping at the bit to get on the campaign trail as time moves forward.
When on January 29, 2009, the President signed his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, then proceeded to sign the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act on February 4, followed by the Stimulus on February 17 I thought he’d run the table for two years. Then, Obama stalled.
103 days and then the numbers change
Right now the U.S. House has 255 Democrats and 178 Republicans — a 77 seat advantage — and Obama’s health care plan barely passed by 5 votes. That was with a 79 seat advantage as Reps. Jack Murtha and Bob Wexler were present at the time. Obama focused Congress on health care and was lethargic to learn jobs were the bigger problem. Congress burned 6 months on his health care agenda. The Democrats are set to lose at least 20 seats in the House on November 2, 2010. If they don’t move fast with the numbers they have right now this could be one of the biggest missed opportunities the party has ever seen. The Republicans know what they’re doing: They are running out the clock until November 2, 2010. In January 2011 their numbers will be stronger.
The Senate schedule is virtually the same. There are few days left for President Obama to move a legislative agenda. It’s only February, but let’s look at the numbers month by month. And remember, this is an election year. —>
February : 5
March : 18
April : 12
May : 15
June : 16
July : 16
August : 5
September : 10
October : 6
November : 0
December : 0
TOTAL : 103
Target adjournment : Oct. 8.
The President keeps having campaign-like events that are a waste of time. He should be spending most his time talking with members of Congress figuring out a strategy to get things passed in Congress. Time to get off the campaign and govern. He ran a dream perfect campaign. Campaigning for him was a dream but governing is the reality. Governing means getting your agenda through Congress.
[want more? go to my (unofficial) blog on the Congressional Black Caucus at CREW OF 42! TNX]