Congress leaves with full bag of newborn laws
Chastened by angry voters, lawmakers got busy and passed the largest array of bills in 50 years.
WASHINGTON - In the middle of a House debate, Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky handed the woman in charge of the rules a paper bag. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D., N.Y.) peered inside, saw the bottle of Maker's Mark bourbon, and laughed.
Indeed, a shot of something strong might help make sense of a prolific Congress that seemed to break the rules of political physics. Democrats were punished by voters for a long list of accomplishments, then rallied with a postelection session that was anything but lame.
Among the lessons of 2010: Being the opposite of a "do-nothing Congress" can produce just as much loathing and election losses for the party in control of government. And bipartisanship in President Obama's Washington is possible, if fleeting.
"Congress and the administration simply failed to listen to the American people," incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said in a statement as lawmakers left town. "Beginning on Jan. 5, the American people are going to watch their Congress do something differently."
"I'm not naive," Obama told reporters this week. "I know there will be tough fights in the months ahead."
Among the fiercest will be over the fate of Obama's signature, but deeply unpopular, health-care overhaul that passed in March and proved a major factor in the Democrats' midterm rout. Republicans have vowed to try denying funds for parts of the nearly $1 trillion overhaul. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said she decided to stay in the House as minority leader in part to stand in the way of any such rollback.
Long before the 112th Congress opens in January, Washington's fiscal experts began girding for battle over reining in spending and the deficit.
Election politics in what essentially is a two-year campaign season will steer congressional business from the get-go.
With those battles to come, Democrats in their final days of power adjourned the 111th Congress on Wednesday night atop what historians say is the biggest collection of sweeping new laws in nearly half a century.
It may have felt like gridlock for the fierce posturing and name-calling. But not since the civil rights movement and the difficult birth of taxpayer-supported health care for the elderly and poor have government leaders made so many big changes - love them or hate them - so quickly.
Under Obama, Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), Congress reshaped a recessive economy, health-care policy, and Wall Street regulation. Both the costs and the government's reach were mind-boggling, alienating voters reeling under a near 10 percent unemployment rate and raising their distrust of Congress.
That was before the Nov. 2 elections that gave Republicans control of the House next year with 63 more seats, plus six more seats in the Senate.
Postelection, the work flow changed significantly. Shaken by an angry electorate, lawmakers of both parties and Obama tried something new: They consulted each other. They cooperated. And finally, they compromised.
Whether it was tax cuts, a nuclear-arms treaty, or the repeal of the ban on gay soldiers serving openly, Congress and the White House closed up their respective shops and headed out for the holidays with an uncommonly full bag of accomplishments in a head-spinning 31/2 weeks.
Getting it all done required precise management of Congress' rules. After watching 81-year-old Slaughter on her feet pulling the strings for several hours one day last week, Yarmuth made his way over to her bearing some holiday cheer.
"I knew Chairwoman Slaughter had a long day," Yarmuth said. "It was my responsibility to keep her in good spirits."
Don't Tell Yet, Gay Soldiers Are Told
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is warning troops that the new law allowing gays to serve openly in the military is not officially in effect yet.
Although President Obama has signed the law repealing the "don't ask, dont' tell" policy, the change is not expected to be in place for a number of months.
The Pentagon issued a memo that Gates sent Wednesday night to armed forces branch heads and other officials explaining the timing and emphasizing that troops can still run afoul of the old law.
Aubrey Sarvis of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said the advocacy group had received dozens of phone calls from troops confused about the timing and wanting to make sure when they may legally feel free to talk about the fact that they're gay.
- Associated Press
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