As part of my continuing fascination with the divisions and intra-party squabbles that are dominating Republican circles these days, I found this editorial particularly interesting.
Americans have learned to expect little from Congress, and by that standard the 109th version controlled by Republicans has met expectations. On the other hand, anyone who hoped that the GOP would make something of its historic governing opportunity is bound to be disappointed so far.
Five months in, Congress can point to the following achievements: a bankruptcy bill 10 years in the making, and a class-action reform watered down essentially to a jurisdictional change to federal from state courts. That’s about it. Among the 2004 campaign promises that aren’t close to being fulfilled are making the Bush tax cuts permanent, reforming Social Security and expanding the market for private health care. Instead of any of those big three, Congress next seems poised to pass a subsidy-laden energy bill and a highway bill with some 4,000 earmarks for individual Members. For this we elected Republicans?
The Democratic/media explanation for this performance is that Republicans are “overreaching” and trying to “govern from the right.” We should be so lucky. The fact is that they are governing from nowhere at all. Far from pushing their agenda, they seem cowed by their opposition into playing it safe and attempting too little.
And what is the source of this exasperated frustration? This is the lead editorial in today’s of the Wall Street Journal, among the most conservative pieces of media real estate in the country.
In fact, it seems as if the rigidly conservative editors at the WSJ have taken note of the same thing the rest of us have noticed for a while: Republican leaders in Congress aren’t very good at the whole “governing” thing.
In fact, the Journal chronicles the recent history of the Republican Congress, which claims to have the same ideology and agenda of the paper’s editors.
* House Republicans completely bungled the ethics process as part of a hapless attempt to help Tom DeLay;
* Senate Republicans badly mismanaged the fight over judicial nominees;
* They haven’t done much better with John Bolton’s nomination;
* Neither chamber’s Republicans have shown any leadership on Social Security;
* And neither chamber’s Republicans have shown any leadership on cutting federal spending.
To be sure, I don’t share the WSJ’s policy goals and don’t want lawmakers to implement the editors’ agenda. Nevertheless, the conservative paper seems demoralized by the Republican Congress’ directionless lethargy.
And if GOP lawmakers have lost the Wall Street Journal editorial page….