Democrats To Start Without GOP Input – washingtonpost.com
As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking.
Oh, wait, never mind. It’s great to talk about bipartisanship and compromise to get elected, but then let’s just throw that out the window and pass some laws really quickly before anyone can do anything about it. This is not how our government is supposed to work.
Don’t get me wrong, I approve of some of the laws they want to pass. More stem cell research? I approve. Tightening ethics rules for lawmakers? Sure. Cutting interest rates on student loans? Well, maybe. I don’t know that cutting the interest rates is really going to help the kids who graduate with $100,000 in debt, but maybe it will. I’ve spoken at length on the minimum wage, and how it should be tied to real, local economic indicators and shouldn’t be a tool of politicians to appeal to liberals and poor people. Yes, it should be raised, because if you assume we need a minimum wage, we certainly need to raise it from what it is now because it hasn’t changed in, what, ten years? At least adjust it for inflation.
I wish the Democrats would notice that they’re alienating a lot of the people who could really be helping them. After the colossal mess that President Bush has made of absolutely everything, many people (Like me, for example) are desperate for someone to bring back a little sanity to the federal government. The Democrats would just have to come through on some of the promises they made before the elections and I’d be happy to support them. But they aren’t even in office yet, and they’ve already broken a big promise to compromise and keep everyone involved.
Are you trying to force me to vote Libertarian, Nancy Pelosi? Because I’ll do it. You watch.