Never send a Republican to do a Democrat’s job

November 22, 2006

Perhaps the biggest flaw of Republican rule of Congress wasn’t the misguided legislation, unhinged rhetoric, or dictatorial style; it was the GOP’s inability to actually govern. Even when lawmakers have no real policy agenda to pursue, there are certain measures Congress needs to pass — such as a federal budget.

In this respect, 2006 Republicans were almost comical in their ineptitude. Spending bills were nearly two months overdue by the time the election rolled around, and now the outgoing congressional majority is giving up and asking Dems to clean up their mess.

Republicans vacating the Capitol are dumping a big spring cleaning job on Democrats moving in. GOP leaders have opted to leave behind almost a half-trillion-dollar clutter of unfinished spending bills.

There’s also no guarantee that Republicans will pass a multibillion-dollar measure to prevent a cut in fees to doctors treating Medicare patients.

The bulging workload that a Republican-led Congress was supposed to complete this year but is instead punting to 2007 promises to consume time and energy that Democrats had hoped to devote to their own agenda upon taking control of Congress in January for the first time in a dozen years.

It’d be amusing if it weren’t so sad. As Kevin Drum put it, “It’s like watching a bunch of first graders stomp off the playground after the teacher has told them to break up a fight.”

Of course, this isn’t just procedural minutiae. By failing to do their jobs and leaving a mess for Dems in 2007, Republicans are, intentionally, interfering with the next Congress’ policy agenda.

Driving the decision to quit and go home rather than finish the remaining budget work is a determined effort by a group of conservative Republicans to prevent putting a GOP stamp on spending bills covering 13 Cabinet Departments — and loaded with thousands of homestate projects derided as “pork” by critics. […]

Some Republicans also look forward to using unfinished budget work to gum up an early Democratic agenda that includes raising the minimum wage, negotiating lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, cutting interest rates on college loans and repealing some tax breaks for oil companies.

“Other stuff may get pushed off the table,” said GOP lobbyist Hazen Marshall, a former longtime Capitol Hill aide. “It kills (Democrats’) message.”

And that’s what governing is all about, right? Why should lawmakers do their job when they can dump their unfinished homework on their rivals’ desks, messing up what they were elected to do?

It’s not just spending, either. Congressional Republicans, unable to do actual legislating, are also leaving unfinished business on Medicare, a trade deal with Vietnam, and domestic wiretapping for Dems to deal with.

Josh Marshall noted, “Stung by the voters’ rebuke, the out-going Republican Congress has decided to close its doors without doing its mandated job, finishing the budget bills for next year. By all rights they should send back their paychecks too…. We’re their employers. Shouldn’t there be some sort of garnishment?”

Sounds good to me. Republicans believe in employees earning their pay, right? In this case, they’ve failed to do their assigned jobs. As soon as their ready to give up their generous government salaries, they should let us know.

Post Script: Josh also mentioned that this story “seems like it’s being treated with a near total media blackout.” It’s true — the AP did a story, but none of the major dailies that I read mentioned the problem at all.

Lots of work for us to finish up, but I say good riddance to a bunch of stink bugs. While we’re at it, can we go back and amend (actually emend) the crummy bills they did pass?

  • I love Marshall’s idea, and indeed thought of it as I read it. The people, for whom the Government work–should demand that unfinished business of this magnitude results in a commensurate reduction in outgoing Congresspersons’ salaries. Hit ’em in the pocketbook. Dems should use the bully pulpit that we now have to spotlight why it’s being done, and state clearly that the new law applies to them as well when their Congress is up. Fair deal, I think.

    It’s also high-time for another Constitutional Convention. We the People need to revisit our sacred screed and discuss issues of the day and determine what remains and what is added. As Maher said in his last show when discussing this issue, “if our Forefathers woke up today, they’d say ‘what? you’re still using the SAME document that we made for you? You were supposed to have Constitutional Conventions about every 20 years or so!'”

  • No, the Constitution worked. Power has been taken away from the folks who weren’t doing their job (not every single one, but en masse). Imperfect a tool as it is, the Consitution generally gets the big things right, given enough time for the wheel to turn.

    The grown-ups have to clean up the mess, though. Harry Reid should make a lot of (sober and dignified) hell about this. And Nancy Pelosi should announce that her “first 100 hours” agenda will now be shifted to the “second 100 hours” as the “first 100 hours” will be dedicated to doing the work the Republicans were supposed to do last year.

    We have the microphone now. Let’s use it.

  • This is right where Dems need to have “the herd of flying monkeys formerly known as the GOP.”

    Take one bill, and ram it through committee—literally RAM IT THROUGH—and employ the ReThug tactic of “limiting debate.”

    Bring the bill to the floor for a vote—and again, RAM IT THROUGH—while synonymously limiting debate.

    Then, launch the blasted thing at the White House.

    One a bill clears committee, bring the next bill in for consideration by committee. Don’t wait until the first bill passes muster before the full body; instead, get these things rolling in a JIT sequence, as if it were inventory on a warehouse shelf.

    Hit the ReThug with a rapid-fire model such as this; he’ll be rolled back on his political heels—and right quickly, at that.

    If Dems are serious about governing—really, REALLY serious—then this is their opportunity; their chance to “be in the moment”—their “finest hour.”

    And—it is the opportunity to consign “fiction of neoconservative fiscal responsibility” to the scrapheap of history….

  • Sad it must be to be a Republican’t. Compelled by ineptitude to ask your opponents to do your own work.

    Strip the damn earmarks out of the spending bills. Especially anything put in by Stevens of Alaska.

  • Pelosi and Reid can still do thier first 100 hours and fulfill the promises made this fall. The next week they can set to these GOP leftovers. The only problem for the GOP is that the Democratic controlled Congress can now offer ammendments on unpassed bills. I have no doubt the new Congress will finish all the business left to them but that the final bills will not look quite like they look now. Let the GOP bitch and let Bush Veto. It will only make them look like “obstructionist” partisans.

    The Dems need to be ready for this attack. If the GOP doesn’t like the DEM bills then they should have passed them in their own Congress. They could have filled thoes judicual seats when they had control.

    They may have to work a full 40 hour week. I hope that does not cut into the fundraising.

  • Another fine example of the “Do Nothing Congress.” Reid and Pelosi need to make that point, repeatedly, over and over, until the public understands that the Republicans are running away from any responsibility, rational forethought, or planning for the nation’s future. Over and over and over via a loudspeaker. ASAP.

  • Jesus fucking Christ, could it be more obvious? Republicans hate government. Republicans hate governing. Of *COURSE* they’re going to pull shit like this, because they’re convinced that everyone else doesn’t like government, either, and when Democrats try to clean up the GOP-made mess, people will blame them for it. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. It’s not just about governing badly, it’s about making sure nobody else can, either. There are two concepts to grasp here: assholes, and sour grapes.

    Why Democrats don’t expect this more frequently boggles my mind. For Democrats to be surprised by this is tantamount to announcing, “Hey, we’re not cynical or imaginative enough to work in politics!”

  • “It’s like watching a bunch of first graders stomp off the playground after the teacher has told them to break up a fight.”

    As the father of a very bright and intelligent first-grader, I find that comment as an insult to my daughter.

    And to every first-grader in this great nation of ours.

    If we need to take away their dessert and Spongebob to get them to do their job, then so be it.

  • Seems like a fine opportunity for Democrats to amend legislation to these “must pass” spending bills.

    Let Bush shut down government agencies over a minimum wage amendment. Setting up that sort of dilemma for administration is what the Democrats should be doing.

  • Democrats need to gird their loins, trim the fat, work overtime, and get the job done that those government-hating, slacker-Republicans failed to do. And then shout from the roof-tops that Democrats know how to MAKE GOVERNMENT WORK!

  • Investigations may be delayed because the Dem Congress will have to finish all the work left undone by the Republicrooks. If they pass the pork laden, GOP biased bills as they are, then the next political campaigns will include, “These unpopular bills were passed by the Dems.”. If the Dems go through each bill and lean out the pork and correct parts of the bills that are biased to corporations because of lobbyist actions, Shrub may veto the bill anyway. One thing is certain, with unfinished business, current work and OVERSIGHT (something that will have to be dusted off) of the Lame Dumbass Administration, I foresee 2 years of gridlock in Congress if Bush/Cheney remain in power. Of course that will be blamed on the Dems too during the next election cycle. Consider that there were over a 1000 investigations into war profiteering, fraud and other crimes during WW II and not 1 during Bush’s War in Iraq. We have been in Iraq longer than the US participated in WW II. That is quite a backlog of investigations that need to be caught up too.

  • I hope the Democrats are learning something here, but I doubt it. The lesson is: you have to actively work the media in order to show the public just how crappy the Republicans are.

    We can’t expect the talking points to be generated by the media, their job nowadays is pure stenography. The reason why the Republicans were always so good at getting their bullshit into the media is because they worked hard to plant carefully crafted memes and sent their spinners out every single day to bamboozle the masses with a set of simple talking points which they repeated and repeated and repeated. And the media loves that, because they don’t have to do any work, or pay for it.

    The Dem talking points should be along these lines:

    “The Republicans have continued the childish behavior of the “do nothing” 109th congress, and left town without funding essential programs that millions of Americans depend on. This is Katrina Republicanism at a national level, and thankfully it is almost over. The Democratic party is going to have to do the work that the Republican congress should have done, plus the work that the American people hired them to do. We expect more childishness from many of the remaining Republicans, but despite their childish obstructionism we will clean up their mess. Someone has to do it.

    The American people, expect Congress to do its job. We Democrats have been given the responsiblity of leading this congress, and solving problems which face ALL Americans. We accept this responsibility, but we fully expect the Republicans to gum up the works if they possibly can. If they do, the American people will throw MORE of them out in 2008.

    There’s an old saying ‘Lead, follow, or get out of the way’. Well, the Republicans had their chance to lead. They did not lead, they played politics at every opportunity. And when they did lead, they led us into the ditch in so many ways it’s hard to count. Now the American people have spoken. Their time to lead is over. They failed, miserably. Now it’s time for them to follow, or get out of the way.”

  • Not only are they leaving the unfinished mess for the Dems to fix, they’ve made sure that there’s not enough time to do nothing now — they’ll be breaking off for holiday shopping a week earlier than usual, on Dec 8.

    I think their entire Dec check should be stopped.

    I wonder though, what would happen if the Repubs went home on Dec 8 and the Dems stayed on through the 22nd. They wouldn’t be able to pass any bills, but they’d show a better work ethic.

  • ***I wonder though, what would happen if the Repubs went home on Dec 8 and the Dems stayed on through the 22nd. They wouldn’t be able to pass any bills, but they’d show a better work ethic.***

    Libra, you might have something there. If the ReThugs all leave town, then what’s to stop Dems from sifting through a lot of those “pending-spending” packages—and simply red-lining all of the GOP pork? It would put the revised bills—all dressed out the way Dems want them—in the hands of the relevant committees on Day One.

    Another “First” for the 110 could be to hold a Congressional SOTU—listing all the problems that exist on that day, that did not exist prior to “george junior” taking up residence on PA Avenue. Steal the thunder from this executive pretender. Call him out on the problems facing America. Ask him why ObL still runs free—while those charged with finding him were summarily dismissed from that responsibility by “the decider.” Put Herr Bush into a total-defensive mode, and keep him there. Ignore the Reich blogs, and the wingnuts.

    Three little words: ATTACK. ATTACK. ATTACK.

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