The Lame Duck Congress passed and didn't pass a flurry of legislation this week in an effort to get home for the Holidays. The
AP called the $338,000,000,000 spending bill, "a monument to the GOP's raw power controlling the White House and Congress." Here is a brief look at the GOP's monument:
Here is a handy list of things that can't get through Congress:
Intelligence Reform
12% of the small amount that the President requested for AmeriCorps
40% of the $2,500,000,000 that the President requested for promoting Democracy abroad
Enough Funding for Veteran's Aid programs to maintain their current levels
Here is another handy list. This is of things that can get through Congress:
An $800,000,000,000 increase to the Debt limit
A Provision giving two committee chairman and their assistants access to the income tax returns of citizens and Congressmen without regard to privacy protections
A rule change designed to protect Tom DeLay in case he is indicted on corruption charges
A provision that will block any of the spending Bill's money from going to federal, state or local agencies that act against health care providers and insurers because they don't provide abortions, make abortion referrals or cover them.
$335,000 to protect sunflowers in North Dakota from blackbird damage, $60,000,000 for a new Courthouse in Las Cruces, NM, $225,000 to study catfish genomes at Alabama's Auburn University, and $2,000,000 to buy back the Presidential Yacht.
A Resolution condemning criticism of the Boy Scouts
Speaking of the Tax provision of the spending bill, called the Istook amendment after Rep. Ernest Istook (news, bio, voting record) Jr., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's transportation subcommittee, on Meet The Press, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) called the system that would let a provision like that slip in to a 14" high bill in the middle of the night without debate, "broken". Embarrassed Republicans promised not to send the bill to the White House until the provision is removed, most likely on Wednesday.
Remember, this week's activity is taking place before the newly elected Republican gains go into effect. Stories like this will become more common and more frightening after January 1.
AP on Yahoo gives the Democrats two choices, become obstructionists or become Republicans. While the AP touches on a third way, becoming the reform opposition party in Congress by laying out popular proposals that would never pass the conservative controlled Congress on every issue, short shrift is given to this idea in favor of speculating that all Congressional Democrats will either roll over and play dead in exchange for meager appropriations to their districts or spend 2 or 4 or forever years in a filibuster.
If we ever want to get back in power in Congress - and to me that is more important that being in the White House - we have to lay out what we are for: Economic Fairness, stable Social Security, Lower Taxes on the working and middle classes, more money for education, and a sensible approach to fighting terrorism (actually fighting terrorists rather than countries we don't like). If in November 2006, Democrats have allowed Republicans to paint us as a party that is just "against" and not "for" anything, we will spend another 2 years in the wilderness.
The Kicking Donkey