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September 10, 2008

Congress Returns To Low Expectations

By Reid Wilson

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Members of Congress returned to Capitol Hill this week for what will be their final three weeks of work before Election Day. And while both parties are accusing the other of blocking critical legislation, the session ahead is likely to create nothing more than further finger-pointing and accusations of who is to blame for a do-nothing Congress.

From energy legislation to a second economic stimulus package, both parties could score big political victories over the coming weeks. Instead, each party will use the other's inaction and reluctance to negotiate as excuses to hammer the other over the head.

Asked in separate interviews what they hoped would be accomplished in the coming weeks, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were equally pessimistic.

"I hope the Republicans finally decide they want to try to accomplish some things for the country rather than the status quo," Mr. Reid said, pointing to what he said is the record number of filibusters Republicans have threatened or executed this year. "They've broken all previous records [for filibusters in a session] by almost 100%."

"This has been a Congress almost entirely without accomplishment," Mr. McConnell said. "It currently suffers from a 14% approval rating, and I think it's earned it." Quizzed about what will happen over the next three weeks, McConnell was blunt: "I would conclude darn little."

The Democratic Congress, Mr. McConnell asserted, has been ineffective "simply because they have no interest in accomplishment. It's just been one box-checking partisan exercise after another." A frustrated Mr. Reid instead blames Republican obstructionism. "I don't know why they've done what they've done," he said.

Not that members of both parties won't try, and the issue atop many voters' minds is the same as that atop members' to-do lists. After avoiding several votes on allowing new energy exploration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bring an energy plan to the floor and, Republicans hope, allow votes on new drilling opportunities on the Outer-Continental Shelf and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

A bipartisan group originally comprised of ten senators, now greatly expanded, has their own compromise legislation that Mr. Reid and Barack Obama have said they will consider.

Energy and gas prices remain at the heart of Republican political efforts this year, after the party's political fortunes dwindled thanks in large part to President Bush's unpopularity and the residual impact of scandals and missed opportunities that caused the party to lose control in 2006.

Now, House Minority Leader John Boehner, backed by virtually the entire GOP conference, is continuing to push his own energy plan, which includes funding for the next generation of biofuels, a renewed focus on nuclear and clean coal technologies and on lifting a ban on oil shale development. "We think we need to do all of the above, from conservation to drilling," Mr. Boehner told Real Clear Politics. "That's where all of our energy should be focused."

Ms. Pelosi's energy compromise will allow some votes on both new oil exploration and on other options, according to spokesman Brendan Daly. "We're giving them a vote on drilling," he said. But "as part of a bigger bill, you've got to talk about renewables."

That hasn't always been Ms. Pelosi's stand, but after significant pressure from her own caucus, the Speaker is now willing to allow new votes. Democratic incumbents and candidates alike, led by endangered Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire and Louisiana Rep. Don Cazayoux, have begun calling on Ms. Pelosi to allow the votes. Pressure has grown so much on Congress to get something done that even Democraric Rep. Mark Udall, a solid environmentalist, has played up his support for some drilling on the Outer-Continental Shelf in his race for Senate in Colorado.

Republicans are pessimistic that they will have the chance to vote on every option they want. "Whether it's a credible proposal that genuinely allows more American energy production, both onshore and offshore, remains to be seen," Mr. McConnell said.

The issue has cropped up not just on Capitol Hill but in campaigns across the country. North Carolina Republican Rep. Robin Hayes, facing a tough rematch of a fight he won by some 300 votes in 2006, just launched an ad in which his Democratic opponent is seen saying he would not drill off the coast of the Tar Heel State. John McCain has made drilling a centerpiece of his campaign, demanding the U.S. "drill here, and drill now." (McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, only increases the GOP's commitment to the energy issue; Alaskan politicians are virtually unanimously in favor of new oil exploration, especially in their back yards.)

But comprehensive energy legislation takes time, and though it will be debated in the House tomorrow, it will take time to make it through the Senate. And given the way Republicans have held up some pieces of legislation this year, anything less than a perfect bill could meet fierce resistance; at a press conference during the Democratic convention in Denver, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, a Republican, went so far as to tangentially suggest his party would hold up bills designed to fund the government, though other Republicans have not committed to that strategy.

Mr. Reid said shutting down the government, either literally or figuratively, has been a long-held Republican goal, and one that hasn't always worked to the GOP's advantage. "It appears to me that someone should just check back a few years. [Shutting down the government is] what Gingrich tried. It really helped him a lot," he said sarcastically.

Accusations that the GOP is standing in the way of progress have emerged as the Democratic response to Republicans' focus on what they see as drilling-centric energy legislation. "They've tried to do that in many ways anyway. They don't believe in government," Mr. Reid said. "They have done everything they can during the Republican years to do indirectly what they can't do directly, and that is destroy government."

Even if it does make it to the upper chamber in a manner acceptable to majority Democrats and enough Republicans willing to vote in favor of cutting off debate, the Senate is planning to adjourn in early October. The House is scheduled to finish September 26, though Mr. Daly said they may be in session longer. So far, Ms. Pelosi's spokesman said, there are no plans for a post-election lame duck session of Congress.

The compressed schedule and the level of partisan bickering has made leaders of both parties pessimistic about the chances of getting real legislation passed. "They have made the mess and the American people have seen it," Mr. Reid said. But, rejoined Mr. McConnell, "I'd be surprised if this Congress that's been doing nothing for a year and a half suddenly started doing important things."

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