You almost want to ask, how is this news? Weren't we all expecting it? I can't think that the press was stupid enough to have believed them:
Yes, victories in the House but what about the Senate? They can't treat Senators that way and would need 9 of them to be able to overcome a filibuster. Though I don't expect the minimum wage bill to have any problems passing.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 [and before the election, Washington Post, you really can't spin this one at all] 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.
And don't even bother reporting this because no one is buying it:
The episode illustrates the dilemma facing the new party in power. The Democrats must demonstrate that they can break legislative gridlock and govern after 12 years in the minority, while honoring their pledge to make the 110th Congress a civil era in which Democrats and Republicans work together to solve the nation's problems. Yet in attempting to pass laws key to their prospects for winning reelection and expanding their majority, the Democrats may [? Who are they kidding, they've been attending this all along] have to resort to some of the same tough tactics Republicans used the past several years.In fact, I would have a lot more respect for the report if he editorialized and said, "Yeah, right, we're buying this crap." And what a great way of setting the tone, shutting out the Republicans in the first 100 hours and anyone who is gullible enough to believe that the Democrats will actually rule any differently during the rest of their time in Congress should be reporting on sports and not politics.
[...]
For several reasons, House Democrats are assiduously trying to avoid some of the heavy-handed tactics they resented under GOP rule. They say they want to prove to voters they are setting a new tone on Capitol Hill. But they are also convinced that Republicans lost the midterms in part because they were perceived as arrogant and divisive.
And BTW, Democrats, you are already perceived as arrogant and divisive.
Republicans in the House, you have to face the facts, you've been neutered and you'll have to live with it. Take your punishment and think about how you intend to woo back your base. Don't waste your time putting your hope in the promises of the Democrats:
Our only hope is in the Senate (that's something you live in dread of saying). If they've grown a spine over their Christmas break, maybe we'll see some pushing back. The House Republicans passed a lot of bills but many of them died in the Senate. Hopefully the Republicans will do the same thing, or face minority status for the foreseeable future. Every single Senator running for president in 2008 better remember that they have to win the primary before they win the general."If you're talking about 100 hours, you're talking about no obstruction whatsoever, no amendments offered other than those approved by the majority," said Rutgers's Baker. "I would like to think after 100 hours are over, the Democrats will adhere to their promise to make the system a little more equitable. But experience tells me it's really going to be casting against type."
"The temptations to rule the roost with an iron hand are very, very strong," he added. "It would take a majority party of uncommon sensitivity and a firm sense of its own agenda to open up the process in any significant degree to minority. But hope springs eternal."
And then there's this:
Democrats intend to introduce their first bills within hours of taking the oath of office on Thursday. The first legislation will focus on the behavior of lawmakers, banning travel on corporate jets and gifts from lobbyists and requiring lawmakers to attach their names to special spending directives and to certify that such earmarks would not financially benefit the lawmaker or the lawmaker's spouse. That bill is aimed at bringing legislative transparency that Democrats said was lacking under Republican rule.Why in the world are the Democrats trying to pass new ethics laws? Why bother? They don't punish those who break the ones they already have, just ask Conyers.
