The politics of that last few years have had their particular rancor and tone not because of Pres Obama or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid, but because of a political party gone off the rails, leaving the Democratic party to be its own loyal opposition since the Republicans have ceded the field. Leaving me with one real wish for under my Solstice Holiday Holly Bush—better opposition please! – Lawrence Spaulding
My neighbor is getting Comcast hooked up today for his TV, internet and telephone. For the last few years he had been with AT&T, but has been drawn in by Shaq and Xfinity. I remember talking with him about this two months ago because the day the AT&T service truck was at my home connecting me to Uverse for those serves was the same day that he had signed with Comcast and set up the cancellation with AT&T. I guess it is a sign that some parts of the economy are doing fine when it takes eight weeks to get your cable switched. But an amazing thing occurred in those eight weeks. My neighbor watched TV, surfed the internet and made phone calls. And today when the switch is done, he will begin to do the same with the glories of a new Comcast DVR. His actions weren’t illegitimate for those eight weeks, AT&T didn’t cut him off for illegitimately using their services… because he still he had a contract, and as of today, AT&T is out, Comcast in.
Why the little domestic story? Because it has been odd to listen to declamations from Republicans and worries on the left that maybe the lame duck session of Congress did not have the legitimacy to pass the legislation that it did. Yet I am not clear at all on which Constitutional or even democratic principle such concerns make sense. It may be politically unwise to try to accomplish a lot, it may risk angering voters or setting a poor tone for the incoming Congress… or it may not. But it is entirely legitimate.
The 111th Congress did not end on November 2, 2010, when Republicans gained seats in the Senate and reclaimed a majority in the House; instead it runs until January 3, 2011, the same day that the 112th Congress begins. It would seem much less in the spirit of the Constitution for a Congress simply to neglect 8% of its mandated meeting time than to act during it. It is a quirk of the American electoral system that we have these long transition periods between elections. Even in this most recent British elections with no clear winner and the first coalition government in half century, took about a week to seat a new Parliament. But we have the three months or so between an election and seating of the new Congress dictated by the Constitution; of course we could change it. In fact, we already have—hello 20th Amendment.
Of course, if in politics you can get people to believe something it might be the case, then it becomes a part of reality. Death panels in the PPACA? Uh no. $200 million a day for Pres. Obama to visit India? uh no. Yet, some of these wild inaccuracies (shall we call them lies?) were believed by enough people to make them part of the political landscape, and others less so. Is it illegitimate for a lame duck Congress to act? Actually this seemed not to stick very much at all, and why? Well, I suppose it impugned the claim by Republicans that the post-2010 elections actions by the 111th Congress were illegitimate when they wanted in on the action. Those damn tax cuts for the wealthy? Lame Duck. A dozen or so Republican Senators wanting in on START? Lame Duck.
And here may be where the Progressive critics of Pres. Obama and the Democratic Congress see the test case of the argument they have been making for quite a while. Stand up, Harry Reid! Say NO, President Obama! See what gets done? But then you have to ask yourself. If the last three weeks were spent debating, stonewalling, and negotiating the tax compromise legislation maybe for a somewhat better end, would the Democrats have START, DADT, 9/11 First Responders Bill et al.?
One last comment. My first two posts here were critical of a strain of left critics of Pres Obama. But I hope to stay away from that except occasionally. The politics of that last few years have had their particular rancor and tone not because of Pres Obama or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid, but because of a political party gone off the rails, leaving the Democratic party to be its own loyal opposition since the Republicans have ceded the field. Leaving me with one real wish for under my Solstice Holiday Holly Bush—better opposition please!
Oh, and the AT&T Uverse is great, and really, DVR has changed my life.
– Lawrence Spaulding
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More from Lawrence Spaulding:
On Wisconsin: Mr. Goose, Meet Ms. Gander by Lawrence Spaulding
Thoughts on Clearly Nebulous’ Query by Lawrence Spaulding
More (or Less, Really) on Words and Violence, by Lawrence Spaulding
Words and Actions, Words as Actions, by Lawrence Spaulding
On Political Writing and Reading… and Kinda Obama… by Lawrence Spaulding
Lame Ducks and Legitimacy, by Lawrence Spaulding
Will Progressives Treat BHO Better than Conservatives Treated GHWB?, by Lawrence Spaulding
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