| Congressional government
We seem to be going in the direction of Congressional government. The President proposes, and Congress disposes. The President should respect Congress. But, will Congress live up to the task of governing? So far, the signs are not good.
When was the last time Democrats had strong leaders in either the House or the Senate, let alone both? Certainly not now. Virtually all the nation's business was put on hold or given a bandaid while Congress slogged through slow horse-trading on health care, and the national mood turned from expectation to impatience to revulsion.
Now Democrats have to face the facts. Their 'filibuster-proof' majority in the Senate was worthless. It was worse than worthless, because it lured them into ineffectual temporizing. So what do they do now?
Stop the Hamlet routine
Be decisive. First, get health care off the agenda by passing it now. Second, take care of American workers. Third, make the hard-headed calculation how to pass the party's program, and do it. Finally, do something really big and reform the Senate.
End the health care reform debacle. The most direct route is for the House to pass the Senate bill and send it to the President. They should do it immediately, and without the distraction of correcting legislation that will continue the madness. The Senate bill is far from the best we can do, but we're out of time. We can fix it in 2011, if we have the chance.
Now, put people to work. Since when do a Democratic President and Congress tell Americans to just be patient while unemployment is over ten percent? The rate was 7.6% when Obama took office. Make the commitment to bring it back down to that by January 2011, and do whatever it takes to get it done sooner. This is top priority.
Apply some muscle in the Senate. Stop pretending that having Joe Lieberman in the Democratic caucus is helping. Strip him of his chairmanship. Make Max Baucus and Ben Nelson feel some heat. Give leadership positions to real Democrats who are committed to the mission. Use every tool, including budget reconciliation, to make real change on financial regulation, climate change prevention, immigration reform, and the rest of the program.
End the filibuster rule in the Senate. We've been discussing for years how to make Congress more effective. This is the single structural change that doesn't require amending the Constitution or even passing legislation. Change the Senate rules. The Republicans were ready to do this a few years ago when they wanted to pack more right-wing fanatics on the federal courts. (And they won that battle.) Do it now. Don't threaten. Do it.
The American electorate gave the Democrats a mandate in 2008 to make real change. We haven't delivered. We should get about it.
crossposted to TiltedPlanetPress.com
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