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ARE OUR ELECTEDS GOING CRAZY?
John Baer
Philadelphia Daily News, PA
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john _baer/20071022_John_Baer___Are_our_electeds_going_ crazy_.html
Oct 22 2007
IS IT ME? Or are our Legislature and Congress especially maddening
these days?
In Harrisburg, they debate meaningless resolutions. In Washington,
they chase Rush Limbaugh and worry about mass murders in Turkey a
hundred years ago.
I mean are you kidding me?
This after '06 voters called for a new Congress and a new Legislature
to end the war in Iraq and start reforms in the state?
It's beyond comprehension.
It drives down public trust, drives away public interest and cements
the practice of insider partisanship, serving no one but inside
partisans.
It's a race to the bottom.
The new Democratic Congress - according to CBS, NPR, Fox, Gallup and AP
polls - this month pulled approval ratings lower than President Bush's.
Quite a feat.
In Harrisburg, where action on energy, health care, open records, a
smoking ban, campaign finance, ethics and more stalls, the Democratic
House fills a day arguing over a resolution.
Not a bill, but a resolution, something with all the clout of a
cabbage: Congress should override Bush's veto of children's health
insurance.
It's more than laughable - what's Pennsylvania do if Congress doesn't
listen, stop seeking or taking federal funds? - it's an abdication
of duty.
Feisty Republican Rep. Kate Harper, of Montgomery County, at one point
stands and asks if there's anything on the House agenda having to do
with Pennsylvania.
Apparently not.
Debate drags on. The resolution passes. And the next day (what a
shock!) Congress ignores the Legislature and upholds the veto.
Oh, and this bold House move comes the day after the same body voted
against looking at constitutional changes to improve the Legislature
and a measure to reduce its bloated size.
The only hint of hope came as curmudgeonly Rep. Bud George,
D-Clearfield County, got so PO'd during debate he yelled, "I resign."
For a second I thought, oh good, maybe it's a trend. But no one
followed. And he later took it back. And in Washington?
Democrats who control the Senate use their definition of leadership
to boldly attack right-wing radio bore Rush Limbaugh.
In an act of extraneous nonsense, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
and 40 fellow Democrats, including Pennsylvania's own Bob Casey Jr.,
sent a letter to Clear Channel Communications seeking a Limbaugh
reprimand for his on-air "phony soldier" comment.
HE'S A TALK-RADIO ENTERTAINER! Maybe it's me, but I don't recall
Democratic campaign promises to put an end to Rush. I do recall
something about ending the war. But I guess when you can't pass
policy in a chamber that you control, you need to pretend you're
doing something. I wonder if these sensitive senators are going after
California House Democrat Pete Stark for saying the GOP sends troops
to Iraq to "get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."
And Nancy Pelosi? Puh-leez.
Save yourself, girl. Stop pressing that Armenian genocide thing.
You're making Bush look good. When he points out that Congress won't
act on a budget, education or housing and notes you're spending time
"sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire," he sounds
wise and you look wifty. (Can you appreciate what it takes to make
Bush sound wise?)
My question is this: Do any of these electeds really believe folks
who need health care or a mortgage or a job are served by or have
interest in empty resolutions, Rush Limbaugh or Armenian history?
Why hold elections if we get the same nonsense and nonresults no
matter whom we vote for? And it seems the distance between the public
and public servants only grows.
Or is it just me? *
John Baer
Philadelphia Daily News, PA
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/john _baer/20071022_John_Baer___Are_our_electeds_going_ crazy_.html
Oct 22 2007
IS IT ME? Or are our Legislature and Congress especially maddening
these days?
In Harrisburg, they debate meaningless resolutions. In Washington,
they chase Rush Limbaugh and worry about mass murders in Turkey a
hundred years ago.
I mean are you kidding me?
This after '06 voters called for a new Congress and a new Legislature
to end the war in Iraq and start reforms in the state?
It's beyond comprehension.
It drives down public trust, drives away public interest and cements
the practice of insider partisanship, serving no one but inside
partisans.
It's a race to the bottom.
The new Democratic Congress - according to CBS, NPR, Fox, Gallup and AP
polls - this month pulled approval ratings lower than President Bush's.
Quite a feat.
In Harrisburg, where action on energy, health care, open records, a
smoking ban, campaign finance, ethics and more stalls, the Democratic
House fills a day arguing over a resolution.
Not a bill, but a resolution, something with all the clout of a
cabbage: Congress should override Bush's veto of children's health
insurance.
It's more than laughable - what's Pennsylvania do if Congress doesn't
listen, stop seeking or taking federal funds? - it's an abdication
of duty.
Feisty Republican Rep. Kate Harper, of Montgomery County, at one point
stands and asks if there's anything on the House agenda having to do
with Pennsylvania.
Apparently not.
Debate drags on. The resolution passes. And the next day (what a
shock!) Congress ignores the Legislature and upholds the veto.
Oh, and this bold House move comes the day after the same body voted
against looking at constitutional changes to improve the Legislature
and a measure to reduce its bloated size.
The only hint of hope came as curmudgeonly Rep. Bud George,
D-Clearfield County, got so PO'd during debate he yelled, "I resign."
For a second I thought, oh good, maybe it's a trend. But no one
followed. And he later took it back. And in Washington?
Democrats who control the Senate use their definition of leadership
to boldly attack right-wing radio bore Rush Limbaugh.
In an act of extraneous nonsense, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
and 40 fellow Democrats, including Pennsylvania's own Bob Casey Jr.,
sent a letter to Clear Channel Communications seeking a Limbaugh
reprimand for his on-air "phony soldier" comment.
HE'S A TALK-RADIO ENTERTAINER! Maybe it's me, but I don't recall
Democratic campaign promises to put an end to Rush. I do recall
something about ending the war. But I guess when you can't pass
policy in a chamber that you control, you need to pretend you're
doing something. I wonder if these sensitive senators are going after
California House Democrat Pete Stark for saying the GOP sends troops
to Iraq to "get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."
And Nancy Pelosi? Puh-leez.
Save yourself, girl. Stop pressing that Armenian genocide thing.
You're making Bush look good. When he points out that Congress won't
act on a budget, education or housing and notes you're spending time
"sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire," he sounds
wise and you look wifty. (Can you appreciate what it takes to make
Bush sound wise?)
My question is this: Do any of these electeds really believe folks
who need health care or a mortgage or a job are served by or have
interest in empty resolutions, Rush Limbaugh or Armenian history?
Why hold elections if we get the same nonsense and nonresults no
matter whom we vote for? And it seems the distance between the public
and public servants only grows.
Or is it just me? *