A Race Against Time

Congress has a lot on their agenda, but more specifically, the Democrats have a lot to do before January 3, 2011. Before Republicans start flooding in both the House and Senate in January 2011, the Democrats want to successfully pass their bills. Naturally, the Republicans oppose most of these proposed legislations.

Take the DREAM Act, for example, which would provide amnesty for illegal immigrants. Outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is desperate to get Congress to vote on the DREAM Act while the Democrats are still there. Even during these lame-duck sessions of Congress, Pelosi is clearly expecting party cohesion from the Democrats, which goes to show just how centralized the House is. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid revised the DREAM Act without even a hearing. The revisions were made in hopes of getting votes from the Democrats who were previously unhappy with the immigration bill. Despite the building of greater Democratic Party cohesion, the Democrats better be prepared for strong backlash from the Republicans, especially now that their confidence has been boosted by their success in the past November elections. In fact, many Republican senators are threatening to filibuster and block any legislation that they do not like.

It’s ironic. Although Republicans would like to portray Democrats as inefficient, it is the Republican who threatens each legislative measure with a filibuster because it does not please him/her. It is the incoming Republican Speaker of the House who turned down an offer from President Obama for a meeting. It is all forty-two Republican senators who formally signed a petition refusing to vote for any bill before the Bush-era income tax cuts are addressed in a manner that they approve of. Reid concluded that the Republicans are strategically wasting time “on critical matters, then blaming the Democrats for not addressing the needs of the American people. Very cynical, but very obvious, very transparent.” But let’s look at the Democrats. They are also using logistical means as a way of getting what they want. They hope to strategically “beat time” by relying on party cohesion to get these bills passed.

The Bush-era tax cuts, budget deficit resolutions, repeal of the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, and ratification of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia are only a few of the important pieces of legislation on the table for discussion…or lack thereof. Regardless of which party is dominant in Congress, who the Speaker of the House is, and when a new Congress will take over, our senators and representatives should not be relying on these logistical details in hopes of getting things done in their favor. Perhaps this calls for a second look at the procedural logistics of Congress, including filibusters, that the two parties are so dependent on. Otherwise, every lame-duck session of Congress will go through this vicious cycle.