Remember the good old days, you know, back after November 8th, when the Democrats talked about bipartisanship?
As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking.
House Democrats intend to pass a raft of popular measures as part of their well-publicized plan for the first 100 hours. They include tightening ethics rules for lawmakers, raising the minimum wage, allowing more research on stem cells and cutting interest rates on student loans.
But instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories.
They were for bipartisanship before they were against it.
Not that this is unexpected in the least. They talk a good game, but, the actions never appear. They weren't too concerned with bipartisanship over the past six years, and have worked to block most important legislation, especially if Bush was for it. Those they did actually vote for, such as the Patriot Act (2x) and the Iraq War, they preceeded to continuously blast.
Surely, this is a taste of what the real San Francisco Democrats agenda actually is. They will then complain about the Presidential veto for their liberal legislation, which the media will dutifully report, blaming Bush and Republicans.
Nancy Pelosi, the Californian who will become House speaker, and Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who will become majority leader, finalized the strategy over the holiday recess in a flurry of conference calls and meetings with other party leaders. A few Democrats, worried that the party would be criticized for reneging on an important pledge, argued unsuccessfully that they should grant the Republicans greater latitude when the Congress convenes on Thursday.
And worry they should. Many of these new Democrats campaigned as if they were moderate Republicans, and would probably like to keep their seats in 2008. They are going to be sorely disappointed when they realize what folks like Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, John Conyers, et al, really want to accomplish, and how they will go about their business.
Linkadoodled to Rightwing Guy, Perri Nelson's Website, Outside the Beltway, Faultline USA, The HILL Chronicles, Don Surber, The Bullwinkle Blog, and Dumb Ox News, Basil's Blog. Thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
