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David
Karki
Read Davids bio and previous columns here
October 31, 2007
Democratic Congress: A
Perverse Pride in Doing Nothing
“If a tree falls in
the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”
“If Congress takes
tons of votes but passes nothing, has it really voted?”
Congress under Democratic leadership has reduced our legislative branch
to little more than a philosophical question, so little has it
accomplished in a year. They have passed none of the budget bills the
federal government needs to operate, and wasted much time with multiple
Iraq withdrawal and S-CHIP bills that they know will get vetoed, just to
create issues for the 2008 elections and to curry favor with their
lunatic base. They are on a pace to write the fewest new laws in 35
years, since the height of Watergate when President Nixon and a
Democratic Congress were bitterly at odds.
They have also launched over 300 investigations of the Bush
Administration, yet haven't managed to show a single incident of
wrong-doing. Compare this to the Clinton Administration, where a single
investigation may well show over 300 incidents of wrong-doing.
And that's what this is really all about: Childish partisan revenge.
Of course, there was the spectacle of Harry Reid commandeering the
Senate floor to attack Rush Limbaugh for something he didn't even say,
never mind that little thing known as the First Amendment. Even if El
Rushbo did say something awful, why is this worth putting all Senate
business on hold? Just change the dang radio station and listen to Air
America, if it's still operating.
At the same time, the House has already set a record with 1,009 recorded
votes this year. But only 107 of those have actually become law, with 58
involving such no-impact items as naming buildings and extensions of
current law. Speaker Pelosi apparently thinks House members are to
function like 435 hamsters on little wheels, running like mad and yet
going absolutely nowhere.
Having said this, a Congress that passes nothing of consequence is a
good thing. But there is a difference between simply doing nothing and
being preoccupied with that which is simply partisan or unimportant (or
both). It indicates a fundamental unseriousness toward the real
challenges we face, and a level of immaturity bordering on the
infantile. And it forces one to question just how fit such “leadership”
is to hold power in the first place.
During a time where we have such major issues as unsecured borders,
troops in the field and an impending implosion of Medicare and Social
Security due to the retirement of the Baby Boomers, Democrats are
spending time on stuff like National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week
and ensuring toys made in China don't have lead paint in them.
Does the phrase “the inmates are running the asylum” suddenly leap to
mind as strongly for you as it does for me?
Fortunately, this isn't lost on the American people; Congress's approval
rating is at the lowest level since such polling began. The Democrats
that were supposed to save us from the Republican “culture of
corruption” have only succeeded in showing us that they are unfit to
hold office, be they clean, crooked or otherwise.
These are the people we're supposed to trust if another terrorist attack
occurs? The same folks who are too busy re-naming rivers (the same one
in Connecticut twice, in fact) and post offices to do the work needed to
try to prevent it? Keeping them in power is nothing more than playing a
high-stakes game of Russian roulette.
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have proven themselves unqualified for the
posts they hold and would have embarrassed themselves were they capable
of shame. Sadly, they seem to take an almost perverse pride in the
nothing they have done.
They have even managed to get President Bush, who hasn't exactly been
inclined to loquaciousness or stiff opposition during his time in
office, to publicly criticize them as well as locate and utilize his
long-lost veto pen. So I guess they have done at least one thing right.
Hopefully, Bush's
newfound ornery streak will carry over to congressional Republicans, and
they'll re-discover the conservative soul they sold while holding power
for 12 years. And then this term can conclude with a perfectly deserved
ending for Reid, Pelosi and the Democrats – a return to minority status.
© 2007
North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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