Emboldened by public support for their war policy and the publics rejection of the president’s stubborn determination to stay the course and deny the reality he has indeed managed to create, the Democrats in Congress are sticking together and advancing other issues on the Democratic agenda.
The president who has only issued one veto in six years is threatening to veto sixteen different bills that are working their way toward his desk.
The bills he is threatening to veto range from bills that would allow airport security workers to unionize, the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, restoration of Habeas Corpus, and curtailing the *rights* of the government under the Patriot Act.
One of the bills the president has threatened to veto covers the release of official papers from presidential libraries, even though the bill was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. The president signed an executive order early on that reclassified reams of previously declassified information and would keep much of the paperwork that covers his presidency for years to come – in other words, they never want to share the content of the notes of the veep’s “Energy Task Force.”
A strong posture on the part of the Democratic majority has some Republicans salivating at the prospect of the Democrats over-reaching. One such Democrat is Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.). ""It's going to be like the government shutdowns. The Democrats' honeymoon is fixing to end. It's going to explode like an IED." (Okay Jack, we’ll take that under advisement just as soon as someone outside your district figures out just who the hell you are and where you think you get the authority you seem to think you have. Consult the ole Magic 8-Ball?)
"I suppose there's always a risk of going too far," said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), "but the risk of not going [far enough] is far greater."
4 comments:
So many issues to go head to head on. So many Repugs. So few prison cells.
Until the Republicans are seen as being complicit in continuing Presidential overarching authority, Democrats will hear complaints about their 'do-nothing' attitude. Assertiveness is the only PYA there is : it also continues bleedoff of Republican support. Sooner or later R's have to face the choice : overrule or impeach. I think they'll go with the former and prolong their misery.
The Democrats tend to be fairly timid, I don't think they'll go too far. I suspect they won't go far enough. I'm glad they are going to hit on some of the other topics - detainees, patriot act, etc. Good post.
That attack on Jack Kingston was pretty tacky. His opinions are at least as valid as those of the freshman democrats that you quote. And he has a pretty good record on most things.
Everyone in government seems to be foaming at the mouth and pounding on tables right now. congress is busy passing symbolic gestures or things they KNOW will never be signed and the Pres seems to be sitting on his desk making faces at them. Childishness on all sides.
What ever happened to that bipartisanship stuff Pelosi talked about? Oh yeah, she lied, like all other politicians.
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