There Will Be Gloat: Sizing Up The Lame Duck And The New Congress

"Then. I. Drink. Your. Milkshake. I Drink It Up!"--Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood

The post mid-term rumors of President Obama's demise have been greatly exaggerated. All the purveyors of conventional wisdom had declared the President's agenda dead. After the "shellacking" that was the 2010 mid-term elections, it was hard to argue otherwise.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the execution. Harry Reid grew a spine and the President triangulated, cajoled, and outmaneuvered Republicans on a whole range of legislation.

First, the President swallowed hard and extended the Bush tax cuts for two years even though it meant including the wealthiest 2% in that compromise. Something the President had campaigned against and was loathe to do. But that wasn't the whole story. In exchange for the extension, the President got the Republicans to agree to a 13 month extension of unemployment benefits as well as multiple tax incentives and other measures designed to boost the economy. Taken in full, what the President got from Republicans amounted to a "back door" stimulus. Something the left had been clamoring for but had little chance of passage on it's own.

Of course, there were many on the far left who were mad. Mad as hell, in fact. They considered the compromise to be another in a long line of betrayals by the Obama Administration. Many House Democrats screamed, yelled, and stomped their feet. The reaction in the liberal blogosphere was even worse. All of which had the perverse effect of making the President look eminently reasonable. Public opinion began to sway in the President's favor and noted lefties such as Ezra Klein and Eugene Robinson started endorsing the plan. In the end, most of the Democrats in the House got behind the bill and the Senate followed suit.

Had the tax bill been the only legislation of note that passed during the lame duck, then most pundits would have likely favored the Republicans on the mythical scoreboard that has been created by the 24 hour news cycle. However, what came next was truly stunning.

On 12/18 (3 days after the tax cut compromise was passed), Congress repealed the military's execrable Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, allowing gay and lesbian soldiers the right to serve openly.

The next day saw the passage of the most expansive Food Safety bill since the 1930's.

And then on the very last day that congress was in session (12/22), both the START Treaty the President negotiated with Russia and the health care bill to cover the needs of 9/11 first responders cleared the necessary hurdles required to become law.

Hell, somewhere in there they even passed the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act that criminalizes the production and distribution of videos that depict the torture of animals.

There was damn near something for everyone during this not so lame duck session.

The last few weeks of the 111th congress were so successful, that Republican Senator from South Carolina, Lindsay Graham, confessed that "When it's all said and done, Harry Reid has eaten our lunch."

Speaking of Lindsay Graham, it should not go unmentioned that he and John McCain were made to look particularly silly during the month of December. Both made embarrassing statements to reporters and on the Senate floor arguing against START and DADT despite previous comments that implied they could potentially support both measures. McCain in particular, has become a complete laughing stock of contradiction and pettiness.

Now, all was not perfect during the lame duck. The President's budget collapsed after the right side of the aisle reneged on a promise to support the bill once the Tea Party started to raise their voices about the size of the budget and all of the earmarks attached. This defection created a painfully amusing show of contradictory behavior on the part of several Senate Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, and 2012 Presidential hopeful, John Thune of South Dakota. Both of whom railed against all the earmarks in the bill while neglecting to mention--until asked, anyway--that they had attached millions of dollars worth of earmarks to the bill themselves.

Perhaps even more painful was the failure to pass The DREAM ACT that would create a path to citizenship for children brought to this country illegally as long as they joined the military or completed a college degree during a specified window of time. This bill was extremely important to Hispanics who are a key part of Obama's electoral coalition. While this was indeed a setback, it is one that cuts both ways. The Hispanic community is the fastest growing minority group in the United States. One that Republicans can not afford to forsake long term. If nothing else, the introduction of the bill on the Senate floor by Harry Redi got Republicans on the record. A record that is potentially destructive to their party when one looks at the long term make up of the national electorate.

All of this success was of course tempered by the knowledge that the 112th congress would be far more Republican. The House had flipped and the Democratic majorities in the Senate have been narrowed. This week saw the passing of the gavel from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to new Speaker, John Boehner.

However, that isn't all this week saw.

What began with a legitimately solid speech by the new Speaker quickly devolved into a comedy of errors.

Incoming House Representative, Jeff Denham-R (CA), threw a lavish fund raiser complete with a performance by country music star, Leanne Rimes, that completely flew in the face of the austere image that Republicans have been trying to portray.

Republicans shot down a draft rule that would have made public the attendance of legislators at committee hearings. Perhaps the embarrassing incident regarding Republican Senator Tom Coburn 's initial argument against the 9/11 First Responders bill --that there had been no congressional hearings on the matter--played a part. After his statement, it was soon divulged on video that there was indeed a hearing on the issue. One which showcased Coburn's empty chair.

Republican leadership also had to deal with the backing away from their own pledge to cut $100 billion from the federal budget. A pledge that they have indicated they will fall well short of.

The most comical misadventure of the week had to be that of House Republicans Pete Sessions of Texas and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania who skipped their own swearing in ceremony but were allowed to take multiple votes in the new congress, violating the Constitution. In their defense, both said they watched the ceremony on television and took the oath via their cable connection. Right now, I am watching the Compass Bowl between the University of Kentucky and the University of Pittsburgh. Perhaps if I stand at attention and take an oath to the Kentucky Wildcats--something I would be proud to do--I will then become a 40 year old scholar-athlete for the commonwealth's premier university. But I think not.

Led by Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota in the House, the Republicans are discussing the repeal of the decidedly popular Financial Reform Bill. House Republican from California, Darrell Issa has gone as far to ask Wall Street what regulations they would like to have repealed. In other words, they would essentially allow Wall Street to regulate itself. Well, it sure worked out last time.

In other budget news, the House is looking to draft a new rule that would cede all budgetary authority to one man, Republican Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. This means that Ryan--all by his lonesome--will be allowed to set all spending ceilings without any vote by the rest of the house. Democracy in action.

Lastly, the House will be pushing forward with their doomed repeal of "Obamacare." Which I sort of understand. This is a nod to their base that is dressed in symbolism, but nothing more. However, when you pledge to bring no bill to the floor unless it has passed through committee and you swear to an open process that will allow amendments to be voted on for every piece of legislation, but you don't provide either on your first signature measure? Well, that's a fine way to start.

The fascinating bit of overreach here--as it relates to the repeal effort--is that by repealing the bill in whole, they also take away all the stuff that people like. Such as the eliminating of pre-existing conditions, the closing of the donut hole for seniors, and the allowing of parents to carry their children on their policies until the age of 26. Republicans argue that the bill is overwhelmingly unpopular with the public. Which if you look at the polls, it does indeed appear to be so. However, when you take a closer look into these polls, they tend to tell a different story. Most polls show that the full support of the current bill to be in the low to mid forties. But when you add that number to the percentage who don't like the bill because it isn't liberal enough, the percentage breaks over the 50% mark. Does anyone think that these folks want to go backwards even with their reservations? I doubt it. A recent Gallup poll showed that only 46% of respondents favor repeal. Furthermore, when you ask people about specific pieces of the bill, the support for repeal diminishes even more.

Not to mention, what does any of this have to do with job creation or deficit reduction? You know, the hallmarks of the Republican agenda. Oh sure, the new Republican Party line is to refer to Health Care Reform as the "Job killing Health Care Bill." Unfortunately--for them anyway--there is precious little data to support that position. In fact, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has stated that repealing Health Care Reform would actually add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit whereas keeping the bill in place would actually reduce the deficit. Speaker Boehner's response when this was pointed out to him by a reporter was to dismiss the CBO's report. Which is fascinating when you consider that Republicans were trumpeting the CBO's numbers on the first draft of the original Health Care Reform Bill (before the bill was changed and finalized) when it suited their position.

All of this is going on while the approval rating of the President continues to sneak up and incoming data on the economy is continually becoming more and more positive.

Which leads me to the conclusion that maybe the Democratic Party should get "shellacked " more often. In response to a beat down, they seem to become bolder and more able. Not to mention, if the new Republican agenda continues on this path, well, with enemies like these, who needs friends?

Sumo-Pop
December 8, 2010