The Disaster On the Hill

Do-Nothing Congress Divides Democrats

By Ed Morrissey

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/

In the aftermath of the midterms, I noted that the Democrats wound up with the worst possible situation. They won control of both chambers, but with almost uselessly thin majorities. That's especially true in the Senate, and thanks to Joe Lieberman, especially so on the war. Neither Nancy Pelosi nor Harry Reid can push anything through Congress without significant Republican cooperation, and at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue sits a Republican President anxious to build up his repertoire of vetos.

Of course, neither one of them bothered to consider this in the opening days of the 110th Congress. Instead, they issued partisan broadsides from the beginning, and focused more on revenge through rules committees and shutting Republicans from the legislative process -- not an unearned revenge, it should be noted, but still politically stupid in such a tight Congress. The pair then spent the succeeding months wailing about how the Republicans weren't cooperating, after giving moderate Republicans absolutely no stake in helping Reid and Pelosi succeed.

The House, with its constant vulnerability, has tried being responsive to its activist base by passing bill after bill from the MoveOn/Code Pink agenda. Unsurprisingly, that won't fly in the Senate, where Republicans can stop the extremist agenda. Reid has tried half-hearted compromise, but the House has left little room for it on most issues. He's also tried silly "Kabuki theater" as Bayh put it, and that has done nothing but harden GOP opposition to his leadership.

Of course, Democrats in both chambers haven't helped themselves with their actions and behavior. On taking office, Henry Waxman promised nothing but investigations into the Bush administration -- and has produced nothing of interest at all. Pat Leahy still wants to gnaw on the bones of Alberto Gonzales months after his departure for the termination of political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the White House in any case.

Members in both chambers put themselves on record calling an American military commander in the field a liar -- and then wound up with egg on their faces when events proved him right. Meanwhile, Democrats are now three months late with budget bills, the latest any Congress has gone in generations without the vast majority of its funding in place.

This hasn't just been a Do-Nothing Congress; it's been a Disaster On The Hill. Other than a minimum-wage hike that they had to attach to an otherwise strings-free Iraq war supplemental, the Democrats haven't done anything of note except to besmirch David Petraeus. It will be interesting to see how they can run on that record and expect to retain control of the House in 2008.

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