you know, it's almost like the election of 2006 never happened

[leftofthedial]

a few modest okay things from the House's "100 Hours," but really nothing significant to save the country from the gang of criminals who are stealing as much and as fast as they can.

I am seriously disappointed.

[Erika]

1. At least the bushbots couldn't activate a $3.15 an hour wage

and demand women have no rights over their body.

[saracat]

2. And you would have the Dems do what ? Like they could just

"end the war" Now? Sheesh. Nancy did a stellar job in 100 hours and the Senate is just too close a margin but they will keep voting.it isn't as though the Republicand just vanished or are supporting us.Most have chosen to fight.There isn't any "bipartisanship " to address on their side and that makes tough going in the Senate when we don't have a super majority and we have one Sen still out(sick)

[Porcupine]

6. How about withdrawing the pRez's war powers...

in a BINDING RESOLUTION!!

Or Madame Speaker could announce that the house isnt' going to fund further offensive actions in Iraq and money would be withdrawn. If the boy king wants to leave the troops in Iraq with no pay it would be up to him.

The "support the troops" bullshit needs to attacked as a cynical plot to promote further war. It's exactly what it is.

[cali]

10. lol

There is no such thing as a binding resolution to end the war. The House doesn't have that power. It has the power of the purse, and there is NO WAY at all that cutting off all funds for the war now would pass, and even if it did, the war is already funded through this fiscal year, despite bushco's supplemental request. Go read what Murtha's planning.

[liberaldemocrat7]

30. Leftofthedial please check your email here.

Thank you.

I would have the congress repeal and replace medicare part D with a real prescription drug benefit under medicare and place it in part B covering 90 percent of medication cost with no means test, no extra premiums like they introduced in part D, no extra annual deductible like they placed into part D, no late sign up penalties in order to coerce people to sign up with a bare bones plan in order that the Republicans could then lie about high percentages of people signing up for the junk plan D.

Raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour.

Set up vote by mail with paper ballots counted by civil servants and registration of voters by civil servants as a federal law for all elections in this country.

Set up single payer universal health care for everyone else.

Increase FICA taxes and remove the earnings limit for FICA taxation to fix the nonexistent Social Security problem.

Repeal the Medicare Part B means test that the Republicans snuck into their 2003 Medicare Law.

etc. etc.

[cali]

31. Well, those are concrete suggestions. Some I agree with

such as raising the minimum wage to 10.00 an hour- though I think it should be done over a three year period or so, and others I don't agree with. Let me give you an example about why an immediate hike of the minimum wage would be a bad thing: I have friends who own a small nursery where they field grow heirloom perennials. Come spring and summer they hire kids to weed and work in the gift shop and tearoom. They pay the kids 7 to 8 bucks an hour- and that's all they can afford. This endeavor is labor of love, more than anything else, and it provides a modest living for the couple who own it.

Setting up single payer health care is a HUGE endeavor, and they don't have the votes for it. That's not going to happen until we have a greater majority in Senate and a dem prez.

I am not against all means testing by any means. People of wealth can damn well pay more.

[JeffR]

3. The 100 Hours were a political triumph

but weren't designed to be a substantive triumph. It's early. Wait and see how it all shakes out. Too early for disappointment; too early for gloating.

[NYC Liberal]

4. It's been a month. What would you have them do?

The House is working. We have a good majority there and they passed the Iraq resolution.

The problem with the Senate is that we really don't have a 'real' majority (neither do the Repubs). We have 49 Dems, plus 2 Indepndents. Bernie Sanders is definitely on our side, but we still have Holy Joe as the deciding vote. If we had just one more, we could toss him to the curb and tell him to go fuck himself.

[leftofthedial]

7. anything, pretty much.

they've taken almost everything of substance "off the table" and pursued relatively minor objectives.

And especially in the Senate, they've shown themselves to be incompetent at framing OR carrying out the debate.

[cali]

13. Aside from impeachment, what has the HOuse taken off the table?

You don't name one damn thing. As for the Senate, they barely have a majority, and it IS the Senate, a difficult body to manipulate with only 51 Senators in the Majority Party- and one of those isn't able to vote. You seem to have no idea whatsoever about how the Senate works.

[EST]

12. Good point.

And, carried to its conclusion, we are actually in the minority, although political vicissitudes allow us to control the Senate, to a greater degree than last year, at least.
THe senate is actually 49-49 with two independents who have agreed to caucus with the dems. With one of our 49 on semi-permanent disability, the senate is currently 49r, 48d and two ind, with one of the ind voting r in the clenches and the other ind voting dem.

(Sigh) I'll bet ol' Macaca Allen is the loneliest guy in the universe, getting calls from nobody.

[Sherman A1]

16. Agreed

Mr. Bush and his Republican pals didn't get things screwed up in just a couple of months, this will take some time to even start to undo. The process takes awhile.

[POAS]

17. Good Point

We knew there would be gridlock in the Senate. That was a given.

What has really moved is the debate, the oversight and the aboility of the Dem's to move legislation.

This last weeks debate on a non-binding Iraq resolution is one example of changing the message and the debate in Congress. No longer do the Republics decide the agenda.

The committee hearings are now on the record with sworn testimony instead of in a basement meeting room without any meaning.

The 100 hours proved that the Dem's can now move through bills that would nat even have made it out of committee before the election.

All those that want everything right now should learn a little patience. One month does not a Congressional session make!

Bedides, It's so much fun to hear the gnashing their teeth and wringing their hands!

[Pushed To The Left]

5. It's still very early! We are just beginning the new era of checks and balances!

We have a huge majority in the House, a razor thin one in the Senate. The good news is that in 2008, more Republican Senate seats are up for grabs than Democratic seat. We could end up with a BIG majority in both the House and Senate!

[OneBlueSky]

8. the problem is that most in Congress think "business as usual" is an option . . . it isn't . . .

not with an illegal war raging and another about to start . . .

not with a certifiable psychopath in the White House . . .

not with corporations being rewarded for sending jobs overseas . . .

not with a major American city lies in ruins . . .

not with a huge number of Americans having no health insurance . . .

not with honey bees dying, glaciers melting, oceans becoming sewers, and the life-supporting capacities of the planet in critical jeopardy . . .

but hey, Congress . . . don't actually DO anything to address THESE issues . . . DOING something, after all, might impact corporate profits or piss off the contributors . . . and that wouldn't be pru-u-u-u-dent . . .

:puke:

[SoCalDem]

9. Until there is a veto-proof margin, it will always be thus.

x(

[leftofthedial]

33. Looking back to the non-results of the 80's and early 90's

when there were veto-proof majorities...

I'm less optimistic than you.

[cali]

11. Absolute nonsense.

And repugnant nonsense at that. The first six weeks of the dem majority have been outstanding. I suspect you simply condemn them because they haven't introduced articles of impeachment.

[TheWatcher]

18. Another worthless post of insults.

But then again, that's what we've come to expect from your rose-colored world of delusion.



But hey, although you may be pathetic, at least your are consistent.

[cali]

21. I insulted no one, but you blatantly did.

That's called hypocricy. I prefer not to alert, and let your post demonstrate that.

[Chipper Chat]

23. Thanks for responding to "Ignore"

I have no "post 11"
Hmmmmmmmmm - wonder why?

[durtee librul]

19. No I condemn them for the following

First, why bother with a nonsensical 'non' binding' resolution - - google how many soldiers were killed while they all had their 5 mins of floor time to talk and get NOTHING accomplished.

Second, talk is cheap. I haven't seen anything of ANY substance and that includes the first 100 hours......have any of those made it to Chimpy yet? Didn't think so.

Third, all I hear from them is 'let's talk about' (add your own flavor of the day). Again, no substance. If they would frame things differently - a thread here links to George Carlin talking about how the Dems had 'Head Start' while Bush has "no child LEFT BEHIND'....

Hearings on a multitude of subjects - geared for the tv cameras in the room so someone can lose their temper and state the obvious all of us still in Kansas knew 2 years ago. Yep, those hearings are going well. Haven't seen much as far as what is coming out of them - except empty coffee pots. Nothing to stop or impede Bush and his programs - just hot air.

I have seen NOTHING from these people...other than maybe Jim Webb and a couple others who I would bet would feel the same way a lot of us do and that is, totally frustrated with the clowns that are still there.

We laugh at *'s alleged inbreeding - well, I think it must be in the DC water supply that you get stupid and lose touch with reality once you're there for a period of time.

Do I think they need to make all kinds of hasty changes? No. Things have to be thougth out carefully. But I also do NOT expect more of the same hand wringing and whining I have seen in the past 6 years to continue on while this country bleeds young blood in a far away desert.

Yeah, you're right, it's too early ------ to go vote them out. These past years have shown me that I only wish we had 2 term limits so when everyone got there, they knew what the 'poor' people in the district were facing. Then MAYBE something would get done.

Last I heard there was a little thing called, "Roberts Rules of Order." I would suspect someone should refresh both Pelosi and Reid on its contents (and yes, I KNOW the Congress has parliamentarians) so they could DO what they should be doing. I watched a bit of that fiasco and I can tell you, there were several 'openings' when the rules could have and SHOULD have been challenged.

Oh well, not exactly the way I had envisioned starting my Sunday.....

Congress Critters? They ain't changed. IF we think we are going to get anything done without being more aggressive, the great ship of the USA is leaking...and it's taking water on fast.

[TheWatcher]

20. Be Careful

The Awful Truth is a bit too hard for some to handle.

[cali]

24. I welcome the opportunity to refute a post that's actually

substantive, instead of vague whining and wholesale condemnation:

1) The non-binding Res is setting the table for further action, and firming up majority opionion on the dem side, as well as cementing a shared concensus with the electorate.

2) "Talk is cheap" is simply a meaningless and trite slogan. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it's not. And the fact that the legislation they've passed hasn't made it to Chimpy is completely unremarkable- if one has any knowledge of the leg process.

3) Meaningful Hearings take time to set up. And they've already held some- to wit, Waxman's Committee and the Senate Judidiary Committee's grilling of Gonzo. Again, they've been in power for less than SIX WEEKS. Things in real life governing don't happen in MTV time.


4) I like JIm Webb, but that you think that he's virtually the only person who's spoken out or done anything, bears witness either to your own biases or igorance or both. Waxman, Feingold, Pelosi, Murtha, Leahy, etc.

5) Forgive me if I trust Reid and the Parliamentarians knowledge of the rules over yours. And just what are the things they should have done regarding the rules yesterday? Name them.

[Bronyraurus]

38. I generally agree with you, Cali

But I do share some of that poster's frustration with the leadership, if only because their politician's natures make them risk averse. It's a problem with representative democracy, not the Democratic Party particularly.

But- what are you gonna do? Ain't no other way that I can think of.

[cooolandrew]

14. I think wwe need patience really...

...,it has been said by insiders that the reason things seem slow now is because the GOP by-passed a lot of procedure. It maybe slow by I am very optimistic of the shape of things to come. They are biding their time and I think they will surprise a lot of people.

[Tiggeroshii]

15. There were a lot of bad things happening because of the REpublican ruled congress

If they were still in power, all those things would still be happening. At the same time, a lot of it is still happening and the Democrats have simply been doing nothing to stop it.

[unblock]

22. you have to be realistic. we won bare, vetoable majorities

so as a practical matter, we gained the power to enact absolutely nothing.

what we did gain was:

1) momentum
2) the actual electoral support of the people
3) the ability to set the agenda
4) the ability to investigate and expose
5) the ability to stem the tide of quiet republic malfeasance

i think this is a lot, and sets the stage nicely for 2008 at which point a democratic president, working with a democratic congress, will have real power.

the framers of the constitution did not intend for the entire government do shift radically overnight.

patience....

[Gregorian]

32. Absolutely right on.

And I appreciate being reminded. It's easy to forget under the pressure we've had to endure for so long.

Thanks unblock.

[leftofthedial]

34. I'm a patient guy

the ordinary people I talk to (leaning toward apathetic, voted Democratic in 2006 because they were so fed up with the repuke agenda, not politically active, basically mistrustful of all politicians of both parties, mix of "repukes" and "democrats") have seen no change since November and are rapidly coming to the conclusion that the Democrats won't do anything meaningful.

Even the non-binding "no-surge" resolution came off as a debacle, in which the repuke talking point that it was a meaningless jerk-off prevailed and in which even a symbolic gesture attempting to reinforce overwhelming public opinion and the results of the 2006 midterms achieved only mixed results. What's worse, the Democrats have shown themselves to be incapable of playing the same political hardball within Congress that the repukes mastered so completely.

Surely, there are factors outside the Democrat's control, but results are all that count. Bottom line is that if they appear to be doing nothing to end the illegal occupation of Iraq and to rein in the bush cabal (neither of which appears to be likely before the 2008 elections), the support that so many posters here think is coming in 2008 may not be there.

[Cocoa]

25. I hope you are contacting your representatives

your complaints are not very specific here. When you contact your representatives it's best to be as specific as possible, so they can act on or respond to your complaints.

[depakid]

26. "I am seriously disappointed."

And you'll continue to be disappointed if you think that Harry Reid and the DINO's in the Senate are going enabling and legitimizing far right policies.

[earth mom]

27. Without Impeachment, the criminals are continuing on as if nothing changed.

Congress has basically turned a blind eye to it all no matter what their mouths are saying. If they aren't willing to walk the walk, then talking the talk is just a load of B.S.! :grr:

[liberal N proud]

28. We are living in dangerous times - Democracy is in it's last throws

The neocons are getting exactly what they wanted and there is little chance of stopping them at this point without a full uprising from the "People"
Congress is insignificant and bu$h has made himself the monarch of America.

GOD Help Us!

[cali]

29. Fear, fear, fear, fear.

The other side of the repuke fear coin is this.

[Homer Wells]

35. To quote the late Great FDR

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself!"

As long as those in power can bamboozle the American Public into this "induced panic" state, they win.

When enough of our "great unwashed" finally emerge from this coma and see the reality of what is happening, then we have a chance of pulling back from the brink.

Until that happy time, we will continue to be Lemmings, marching stoically over the cliff.

(by WE, I am refering to the great Collective WE of the American Public, not us few unhappy ones already awake, walking among the zombies!)

[blues90]

36. I feel the same way

What really troubles me is even though the dems are having investigations into past crimes bush and his crime family are still adding more and more crimes to the list everyday . Look what bush just did , gave himeslf more exectutive power over civil safey and now look at what's happening to the FDA and look at what his side kick torture freak is doing to the judges who have alot of power .

By the time the dems catch out since impeachment is off the table bush will be out of office with even more crimes added to the long list . Then if bush/cheney attack Iran which seems to be reaching a boiling point more each day .

[In Truth We Trust]

37. Impeach!

[pat_k]

39. The impeachophobics can't allow themselves to hear the message.

The election was not "all about" the war.

The election was all about the nation's outrage at Bush. Not just for terrorizing us into the quagmire of occupation, but for making the United States an international pariah; for declaring war on the Constitution; for turning Americans into torturers; for destroying New Orleans; for skyrocketing oil prices; for his tax kickback to his cronies; for profiteering on the blood of our troops.

The message was loud and clear:
"We want out of Bush-World!"

The way out of Bush World is clear:
Impeachment.

But the beltway impeachophobics can't allow themselves to hear that message.

Iraq is a quagmire; by definition, no "good" way out. It's a rat hole of endless debate perfectly suited to feed the 24-hour cable tabloid beast. As long as we allow them to make it "all about the war" they can keep spinning their wheels and keep the truth -- and what that truth demands of them -- at bay.

They have other tools of denial in their arsenal. Escaping the reality of the present by obsessing about the election to come or the lunatic notion that we want to see bipartisanship. Sure, Americans long for the ideal of reasonable people on "both sides" working together to find reasonable solutions, but voters wrote off that ideal as impossible when they rejected Bush and his rubber stamp Congress as intolerably incompetent/corrupt/extreme.

It is time to loudly, and consistently, challenge their narrative with stark realities:

• The election was all about Bush, not the war;
• The Congressional leadership can accomplish nothing under rule by signing statement;
• Impeachment IS Our Positive Agenda;
• If we want to extract ourselves from Iraq, we must forget about Iraq and focus on Impeachment;
• The last thing the electorate wants is bipartisanship in Bush World.