January 8, 2007

Small Problem for Dems: They Can’t Govern

It would really be a shame if Cindy Sheehan, MoveOn.org and the Daily Kos crowd got a belated lump of coal in their New Years stocking. It’s a funny thing about your side winning. When you win, you actually have to take office, and once there, you tend to find a few unreasonable people who expect you to – what do they call it? – oh yes. Govern.

Guess what. The Democrats can’t.

At least they can’t govern like they led their supporters to expect during the 2006 campaign. That’s because to do so would be both impossible and greatly harmful to the country. Everyone outside the Dennis Kucinich moonbat wing of the Democratic congressional caucus knows this well.

What did supporters of the Democrats vote for in 2006?

Bringing the troops home? Say, did anyone just notice that President Bush is going to increase the number of troops in Iraq? This is supposedly OK with new Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, so long as it is very temporary. But you know what? It won’t be, because it can’t be. Because no one can guarantee that events on the ground will warrant the homecoming of these or any other troops any time soon.

The only thing Democrats in Congress could do about this is cut off funding for the war, and they aren’t going to do that, because then they would be admitting that they are happy to see us lose. And whether that’s true or not, they won’t take an action by which they effectively admit it.

So. Democrats win, and more troops head for Iraq. Aren’t you glad you voted Democratic?

In her introductory address to the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that from now on Congress will budget on a pay-as-you-go basis. Great idea! Problem. Pelosi cannot and will not actually do it. The biggest chunk of federal spending is entitlements. They are exempt from all spending constraints. Is Nancy Pelosi going to propose changing that? Are the Detroit Lions going to the Super Bowl?

Didn’t think so. Democrats lambasted Republicans for being big spenders. Deservedly so. But do Democrats want the federal government to spend less? No. So what does pay-as-you-go mean? It means higher taxes. Even if you grant the specious belief that higher tax rates means higher revenue, Democrats cannot pass a tax increase that President Bush will sign. There will be no tax increase. There will be no spending cuts. There will be no pay-as-you-go. Perhaps that’s why Pelosi only vowed no “new deficit spending.” Existing deficit spending, well, we’re all used to that.

Democrats slammed Bush for various efforts to stop terrorism without getting warrants from judges. Well! Democrats now control Congress. Are they going to make him stop? Nope. Because the efforts work. What’s more, in a signing statement accompanying a postal service reform bill, Bush noted that he maintains the right to open mail, without a warrant, if it is suspected of being related to terrorist threats.

Some Democrats will huff and puff about this and call it a “raw power grab” or some such thing, even though this has been the law for years. Will they make him stop? No. Because it’s no big deal and it works.

This is the problem with running a campaign based on misdirection, exaggerations and irrelevancies. Once in a blue moon, it just might work, if you define “work” as getting you into office. But once you get there, you can’t govern in the way your campaign suggested you would because nothing you said in your campaign was actually serious.

You can’t nationalize the economy to do something about helping workers when unemployment is at historic lows. You can’t address “energy independence” when you’ve already ruled out domestic oil exploration. And you can’t make radical changes to health care, because you remember what happened the last time you tried that. The one thing you can do is conduct investigations – and this they will – but that’s not governing. That’s the prevention of governing, as those who otherwise would be governing spend their time answering subpoenas instead.

Welcome to power, Democrats. Enjoy the trappings, because they’re all you’ve got. You can’t govern, at least not to the satisfaction of your biggest supporters, because you knew all along you couldn’t and wouldn’t do what they wanted.

Aren’t you glad you voted Democratic? Good. Keep savoring that election night victory. It was the last one you’ll get for awhile.