That didn’t take long
Posted by lex, on January 2, 2007
You know that fresh breeze that’s about to blow through the hallowed halls of Congress? Turns out that it’s going to smell an awful lot like the old breeze. In what is sure to be catalogued as the quickest row-back from a campaign promise ever, the incoming majority is forswearing its pledges of legislative bipartisanship even before they’ve been sworn in:
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…
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.
Well, sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander: It isn’t like the outgoing majority bent over backwards – or forwards, even – to include Harry and Nancy at their brainstorming meetings for the last few sessions, and elections do have consequences – a party that wins the majority gets to act like a majority party. Including setting the legislative agenda and well, distributing patronage:
To keep her sometimes-fractious coalition together, Pelosi has been distributing the spoils of victory across the ideological spectrum, trying to make sure that no group within the Democratic Party feels alienated.
Blue Dogs picked up some plum committee assignments, with Jim Matheson (Utah) landing a spot on Energy and Commerce and A.B. “Ben” Chandler (Ky.) getting an Appropriations seat. At the same time, members of Black and Hispanic caucuses obtained spots on these panels, as Ciro Rodriguez (Tex.) was given a seat on Appropriations and Artur Davis (Ala.) took the place of Democrat William J. Jefferson (La.) on Ways and Means.
Sounds like a recipe for bold new thinking and legislative success. But I would ask that we keep new receipts out of Mr. Jefferson’s freezer. At least until that federal investigation is complete.