More of the Do Nothing Congress

Congressman Kuhl has a recap of the reactions in the editorial pages across the country regarding the Dems' underwhelming year in Congress.

Today's Wrap-Up Headlines

"After One Year in Power in Congress, Dems Don’t Get Much Done," McClatchy, December 20, 2007

"Key Setbacks Dim Luster of Democrats' Year," Washington Post, December 20, 2007

"Democratic Congress Recesses With A Whimper," U.S. News and World Report, December 20, 2007

"Democrats Savor Power for a Year But End It Feeling Unfulfilled," Los Angeles Times, December 20, 2007

"Party Base Slams top Democrats for Yielding," Washington Times, December 20, 2007

"Congress's Mixed Results; Democratic Promises Meet Legislative Reality," Washington Post Editorial, December 20, 2007

"Democrats Will Start 2008 With Low Ratings," New York Sun, December 20, 2007

"Chance of Iraq Policy Change Slim for Democrats," Congressional Quarterly, December 19, 2007

"Democrats Hit Limits of PAY-GO Rule," Congressional Quarterly, December 19, 2007

"AMT Patch Passes, Without Offsets But With Consternation," CongressDaily AM, December 20, 2007

"House GOP is Pleased," Roll Call, December 20, 2007

IRRESPONSIBLE: Democrats Prepare to Sock 23 Million Middle-Class Americans with Massive Tax Hike

From The Hill:

Hoyer says Congress may not be able to patch AMT

By Mike Soraghan
Posted: 12/18/07 12:06 PM [ET]

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) hinted Tuesday that Congress may not be able to stop a big tax increase from hitting 23 million Americans.

Hoyer, pressed on whether Congress would resolve disputes over the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), said, "Maybe."

His remark came as a surprise, since it has widely been assumed that Democrats will give up their effort to "pay for" the AMT patch and go with the Senate plan to load the cost onto the deficit.

Hoyer's statement came the morning after nearly 30 conservative Blue Dog Democrats signaled their discontent with the Senate AMT plan by voting with Republicans against an adjournment resolution.

Hoyer was asked about efforts to resolve the dispute. He said he had come to the 11 a.m. briefing directly from the meeting to resolve the impasse and did not know the "state of play on AMT."

"There's no deal" with the Blue Dogs, he said.

An AMT patch must be passed soon to avoid a big tax hike. By waiting as long as they have, lawmakers have already raised the risk of a tax-filing mess that could provide fodder for political attacks. The IRS says it needs seven weeks from the time the president signs the AMT patch into law to update its forms and re-program its computers.

Dems Fail in Congress, Turning on Each Other

With the latest Gallup poll showing that 70% of Americans disapprove of Congress' job performance, come the latest headlines:

Washington Post: Democrats Blaming Each Other For Failures

Wall Street Journal: Intraparty Feuds Dog Democrats, Stall Congress

USA Today: Surge's success holds chance to seize the moment in Iraq; Instead, Democrats are lost in time...

UPDATE: Great minds think alike. From Congressman Kuhl's blog:

Yesterday, Republican Leader John Boehner said "What's going on now is something I've never seen in the 17 years that I've been here in terms of how you finish at the end. I've seen things jammed up. I've seen us here late. But at least someone had a plan. There appears to be no plan." Indeed, the following headlines in today's news illustrate a majority in complete and utter disarray:

• Washington Post: Democrats Blaming Each Other For Failures
• Wall Street Journal: Intraparty Feuds Dog Democrats, Stall Congress
• The Hill: Dems Cave on Spending
• L.A. Times: Democrats bow to Bush spending limit
• S.F. Chronicle: GOP not budging and Democrats face need to cut spending
• Associated Press: Bush, GOP Prevail on Host of Hill Issues
• Washington Post: Democrats Blaming Each Other For Failures

130% Tax Increase

Even House Democrats Shocked by Phase One of
House Democrats’ “Mother of All Tax Hikes”

Broken Promise
QUESTION: "If Democrats do take back control of Congress, how concerned should the average American be about a possible increase in his or her taxes?"

Then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): "Not at all. Democrats are talking about ... fiscal responsibility." (Press Conference, 7/28/06)

Sheer Panic

"With some vulnerable Democrats facing a difficult tax vote this week, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois has raised the prospect of taking up the alternative minimum tax patch without provisions that would raise other taxes to make up for the lost revenues."

"Why should House members have to walk the plank?" asked Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn. "This is a 130-percent tax increase..."

"'It's a very dangerous situation that puts some members on the spot,' one Democratic lawmaker said of Rangel's bill."

(CongressDaily AM, 11/7/07)

Speaker Admits House Democrats Failing to Lead

One year ago today, Democrats won control of Congress, promising a "New Direction." How Are They Doing?



FLASHBACK: "Pelosi Says Democrats Are Ready to Lead"
(AP, 11/8/06)

Top House Democrat Failures

And this list is only for the month of October! I wonder how many more failures the Dems will "accomplish" over the next few months...

Democrats’ October: A Comedy of Horrors

Top Ten Recent House Democrat Failures

No-Compromise-Democrats’ SCHIP Let-Down Not only did the Democrats fail to override the President’s veto on the first flawed SCHIP bill, they failed to garner a single additional Republican vote on the second version of the bill, even after weeks of political attack ads. And no one will forget Democrat Rep. Pete Stark’s offensive comments accusing our troops of “blow[ing] up innocent people,” remarks that overshadowed and demeaned the important debate on children’s health care.

Flawed FISA Bill Pulled Democrats were forced to pull their extension of FISA from the floor after Republicans exposed its “bin Laden loophole:” under the bill, our intelligence officials would be forced to consult government lawyers before wiretapping Osama bin Laden. The Washington Post called the whole episode an “embarrassment” for Speaker Pelosi.

Turkey-Armenia Resolution Quashed In what the media called the “biggest political misstep of her speakership,” Speaker Pelosi was forced to withdraw the resolution on the World War I Armenian genocide that, by antagonizing Turkey, served to jeopardize the safety of our troops in Iraq. Even top Democrats like Rep. John Murtha led the effort to quash the resolution.

Mother of All Tax Hikes Sends Democrats Scrambling After Chairman Rangel introduced the Mother of All Tax Hikes, Speaker Pelosi said she “certainly support[s] his plan,” only to whitewash the transcript of the press conference later to obscure her support for the largest individual income tax hike in American history.

Failure to Govern: Appropriations Bills On October 26, Democrats set a record in their failure to govern. Not since 1987 has Congress gone that long in the calendar year and not sent the President even a single appropriations bill, including the veterans and military housing bill, which enjoys near unanimous support.

Failure to Govern: AMT Relief Democrats have failed to protect 21 million American middle-class taxpayers from the Alternative Minimum Tax. In the past, Republicans always acted to protect taxpayers by June each year. In their failure to act, Democrats now risk levying a $2,000 tax hike on the middle-class and a three month delay in issuing tax refunds to Americans who need to make ends meet.

Failure to Govern: Post Office Congress The record is clear. Of the 107 bills signed into law in the 110th Congress: 47 bills named post offices, courthouses, or roads; 44 bills were non-controversial measures sponsored by Republicans or passed with overwhelming GOP support; and 14 bills extended pre-existing public laws or laws passed during a Republican-led Congress. Two bills were enacted on the strength of GOP votes over the objections of Democrat leaders – including the war supplemental in May and the Protect America Act in August.

Keystone Cops at the Judiciary Committee Despite promises of confidentiality, 150 Department of Justice whistleblowers had their identities revealed because of the carelessness of House Democrats. If this lack of investigative integrity is what Democrats call “oversight,” then it looks more like the Keystone Cops than a congressional committee.

Murtha Inc. Exposed The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday ran a front page story about Rep. John Murtha’s earmark factory, which it dubs “Murtha Inc.” According to the Journal, “many [earmarks] weren't sought by the military or federal agencies they were intended to benefit. Some were inefficient or mismanaged … One Murtha-backed firm, ProLogic Inc., is under federal investigation…”

Plummeting Approval Ratings A recent Zogby poll found, for the second month in a row, that the Democrat-led Congress’ approval rating is a paltry 11 percent. Sixty-six percent of Americans think the country’s on the wrong track, up four points from the last poll. In addition, a recent California poll shows that for the first time, more Californians (40 percent) disapprove of Speaker Pelosi’s job performance than approve (35 percent).

Even Pelosi Disappointed with Her Own Congress

The AP is out with a story on how even Nancy Pelosi is "disappointed" with Congress, you know, the Congress that her party now controls and where she's SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE! Money quote:

"I know that Congress has low approval ratings," Pelosi, D-Calif., said at her weekly news conference. "I don't approve of Congress, because we haven't done anything that — we haven't been effective in ending the war in Iraq. And if you asked me in a phone call, as ardent a Democrat as I am, I would disapprove of Congress as well." (Emphasis added.)

I couldn't have said it any better myself: The Dems "haven't done anything!"