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The Sinking of 109
Not PT 109 – Congress. The boat was run by war heroes
© Bryan Zepp Jamieson
12/8/06
http://www.zeppscommentaries.com/VRWC/109th.htm
There was a quote the other day from a Republican that tells you
just about everything you need to know about the sort of people who have taken
over and infested the GOP.
First, take note of the fact that the 109th Congress was considered a
“do-nothing” Congress. It rubber-stamped Putsch as he led the country into two
catastrophic wars, passed the Patriot Act unread, and failed to address a single
problem that anyone making less than $100,000 a year might encounter. It
convened for less days than any Congress in modern times.
In short, it was lazy, doctrinaire, and incompetent. You can’t even say both
parties are responsible, because the GOP simply steamrollered over parliamentary
procedure and left the Democrats with no voice – and thus no responsibility –
for the horrible track record it wrapped up.
This Congress, when it bothered to meet at all, met for Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday of the weeks it was in session, devoting the rest to fund raising and
figuring out ways to steal more of the national wealth for their corporate
masters.
Nancy Pelosi, the incoming Democratic Speaker, has announced that the 110th
Congress will be meeting for five days a week. This brought about this whine
from one of the Republicans lucky enough to survive the November 7th massacre:
“Keeping us up here eats away at families. The Democrats could care less about
families -- that's what this says.” That was uttered by Representative Jack
Kingston, who seems to indicate that Georgia is missing at least one village
idiot. He was foolish enough to make this whine to the Washington Post.
Five day work weeks! Oh, the horror! Oh, the humanity! Yeah, Jack, the average
working stiff is really going to see it as cruel and unusual punishment that you
have to work five days a week, thirty weeks a year, for only $240,000 dollars
plus all you can steal.
Now, if you think the Georgia Jackass is an exception to the rule, consider that
Congress will adjourn and put an end to this era of Republican misrule with 9 of
the 11 budget bills remaining to be passed.
Republicans love to tell us that they are all that stand between the Democrats
and economic chaos. According to Republicans, the Democratic caucus never met a
tax or a pork barrel project they didn’t like. Certainly they’ve been telling us
for over 70 years that the Democrats will wreck the country. Why, just look at
the damage they did between 1932 and 1968! Would anyone in their right mind want
to try to make a living in 1968 compared to 1932?
Under the circumstances, one might think that, given the chance to determine
spending for one last year, the Republicans would be busting their humps,
feverishly working to put together a budget that would show that they are the
party of fiduciary probity. After all, the Democrats will rack up huge deficits,
waging pointless wars and ignoring economic common sense.
Oh, wait.
The Republicans did pass two of the eleven bills – one for the badly savaged
military, and another for the corruption and scandal-ridden Department of
Homeland Security. (DHS probably holds the record for being the first government
bureaucracy to become inefficient, corrupt, and incapable of reform in the scant
period of just three years).
The Republicans had a method to their madness. The Democrats will have to put
time in on last years’ budget (these bills were all supposed to be on the
President’s desk for him to crayon no later than September 30th), and then whip
around and start work on the 2008 budget. That leaves them less time to undo the
institutionalized corruption the Republicans brought to Congress. Less time for
legislation forcing the authors of earmarks – those secretive pork barrel
add-ons that are sometimes added even after a vote has been taken on the bill to
have their names publically attached. Less time to work on extricating troops
from the Iraq and Afghanistan fiascos. Less time to investigate the criminality
of the White House. Less time for voting reform.
Less time to work on real medicare reform and universal health coverage. Less
time to roll back the Republican slash-and-burn approach to the environment,
labor, health and safety, and the budget. Less time to undo the damage.
More time for the Republicans and their criminal corporate cronies to bleed the
country dry through the greatest theft of assets in human history.
And of course, all the budgetary safeguards designed to protect against such
theft were removed by the Republicans, and the Democrats won’t have time to
reinstall them before the 2007 budget bills have to be finalized and voted on
(the alternative is expensive and politically unpopular extensions to the
existing budget, which manages to freeze the level of services while increasing
costs). That means the thieving and corruption will continue for one last year.
And of course, the Republicans will blame the Democrats for it. After all, they
will be the party in power. In effect, they’ll be saying, “The reason we’re
stealing is because you couldn’t do anything to stop us, and therefore it’s your
fault.” They may only have 30% of the country supporting them, but that is the
dumbest and/or most crooked 30%, and they’ll gleefully take up the chant that
the Democrats failed to reform a broken system in their first three months.
And simultaneously, they’ll whine about improvements the Democrats do make. Even
if the deficit is reduced (something Putsch will try to take credit for) they
will moan and complain about irresponsible Democratic spending.
It’s the capstone to the Republican nightmare of corruption and sneering, and
cynical sanctimony masquerading as “patriotism” and “family values.” Jack
Kingston’s moan about having to work 150 days a year encapsulates the greed, the
stupidity, the sense of entitlement that this vicious and amoral pack of thieves
brought with them to office.
If various right wing toadies whine about Democratic budgets over the next year,
remind them that the Republicans deliberately refused to do their duty and pass
the budget in their final years, just so they could steal more while scoring
cheap political points.