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The Only Thing Congress Knows How To Do Well Is Take a Vacation

December 07, 2007 9:17 AM

In this season of joy, on capitol hill there seems to be more a spirit of meanness and an unwillingness to cooperate.  House Democrats are fighting with Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans are blocking nearly all legislation, and President Bush and his team are threatening to veto just about everything that might come out of Congress.

The House and Senate just got back from a TWO WEEK VACATION, a break they took to celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday which most hard working Americans celebrate with one or two days off.  And what did they do during this first week back?

For starters the house WASN'T IN ON MONDAY and WON'T BE IN TODAY.  The House did pass an energy bill, but its chances of getting through the Senate are slim and if the bill were to reach the white house, the administration has already signaled it is a candidate for a Bush veto.

The Senate has been in all week and will be here today but so far doesn't have much to show for it.  Senators did finally pass a short, one year fix for the Alternative Minimum Tax which could soon hit up to 25 Million Americans with a healthy tax increase if it isn't changed. But Senate Republicans, who used to insist they were the party of fiscal responsibility, wouldn't support offsets to pay for the fix so House Democrats are threatening to torpedo the Senate measure when it comes back to them.

It is December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day, and the Congress, now being run by the Democrats, still hasn't finished funding the government, a task they were supposed to complete by last October 1.   This morning's CQ TODAY says House democrats are concocting something called an 11-BILL APPROPRIATIONS OMNIBUS which they hope to take up next week, pass and send onto the Senate.

And Finally CQ TODAY reports two House Republicans have quit the Bipartisan House Page Board.  The board was strengthened and revised following the Mark Foley page scandal but according to the publication the Republicans are angry that the clerk of the board, appointed by the democrats, failed to tell them about 4 pages who were recently sent home because of serious "criminal acts -- shoplifting, and sexual indiscretions -- oral sex in a page dorm elevator."   The article says Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, republican of Florida was so upset she sent speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter saying, "YOU HAVE LEARNED NOTHING FROM THE LESSONS OF THE MARK FOLEY SCANDAL."

Happy Holidays!         

December 7, 2007 in Congress | Permalink | User Comments (0)

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