Congressional panic....

[DocDiggs]

Panic Button

At last, House Republicans learn to run for their lives.

By Bruce Reed


Friday, Jan. 20, 2006

About Face: All week long, the Republican Congress has been on a mad dash for salvation. Each of the three men jockeying to replace Tom DeLay as House Majority Leader claims to be the true reform candidate. Six months ago, John McCain's colleagues rolled their eyes whenever he brought up reform at the caucus luncheon; now House and Senate Republicans alike have asked him to help write their lobby-reform proposals. Rep. Bob Ney's golfing junket to Scotland turned out to serve an educational purpose after all.

Now that Democrats have made a big splash with their can-you-top-this reform package, a Washington Post editorial called "A Rush on Lobbying Reform" actually warns that "in their zeal to outbid each other, they will go too far." The Post doesn't elaborate, either because editors couldn't honestly think of a reform that would go too far or because they've been in Washington long enough to know that should be the least of their worries.

Until we see the details, we won't know whether Republicans in Congress have any stomach for real reform or are counting on their leaders to make sure this is only a face-saving exercise. Already, some members have sent smoke signals to be patient and let the reform urge fade.

But the true significance of the current Republican panic isn't the unlikely hope that the GOP has somehow gotten religion on reform. This was a landmark week for another reason: For the first time in nearly a decade, House Republicans are more frightened of the American people than of Tom DeLay.

Coffee Talk: When the Founders designed the House of Representatives, their whole point was to make it responsive to the masses. They were so worried that the people's House would run amok doing what the people wanted that they created the Senate as a saucer to cool the coffee, in Washington's famous phrase to Jefferson.

Tom DeLay turned out to be no Tom Jefferson. He knew his House colleagues' most immediate fear wasn't big government, terrorist attack, or moral decline. Their biggest worry was the one Jefferson intended: losing their seats or losing their majority.

In a profession as volatile as politics, the natural instinct is to insulate oneself from the fickle moods of the electorate. That was DeLay's mission from the start. His K Street Project gave Republicans a bottomless line of credit to finance their campaigns and a lucrative retirement system for members who lost or retired. He helped rewrite district lines in Texas and elsewhere to protect Republican incumbents and pad their majority.

As an instrument of party discipline, DeLay's system worked wonders. No matter how unpopular a bill might be with the voters, he could always twist enough arms to get it passed.

Yet along the way, DeLay and his colleagues forgot the most important lesson Newt Gingrich had taught them in 1994: Accountability to the voters is a blessing, not a curse.

A decade ago, when Democrats held the White House and Republicans the Congress, both parties had to compete to deliver on their promises. In 1996, for example, Washington enjoyed one of its most productive years in recent memory—passing major legislation on welfare reform, the minimum wage, and health care—because Democrats and Republicans couldn't afford to forget the interests of the voters they were supposed to be working for.

It's easy to ridicule Congress for its historic tendency to do nothing for months on end and then hit the panic button when the voters catch on. Yet the trouble with the Republican Congress under DeLay was that it didn't panic enough, and certainly never when the American people did.

One-party rule and the explosive growth of the influence industry have proved to be a deadly combination. For a few members, the comfort of a safe seat may now give way to hard time in a cold, dark cell. For most, a self-perpetuating majority came with a different price: the frustration of not having much to show for their time in Washington.

Five Down, Three To Go: With exactly three years left in the Bush presidency, Republicans still have to sort out the contradictions in big-government conservatism. Even without DeLay, they're still susceptible to the siren song of K Street. But if they decide to let the American people whisper in their ear for a change, they won't regret it.

Around this time last year, Tom DeLay was forcing Congress to try to save a brain-dead woman in Florida. This year, DeLay's implosion may force his colleagues to hear what voters have wanted all along: to pull the plug on the brain-dead politics of Washington. ... 11:28 A.M.

[DocDiggs]

URL for above article.

http://www.slate.com/id/2134461/

I'm having all sort of probs w/ TP editing, entering, etc.

[Snowden]

Originally Posted by DocDiggs

URL for above article.

http://www.slate.com/id/2134461/

I'm having all sort of probs w/ TP editing, entering, etc.

Doc, if you need help in this, let me know and I will try to help you.

It's a shame that a little power can go to a person's head as this sets out re Tom DeLay. It's not the party, as we can realize by referring back to the call for reform by Newt Gingrich in that turn-around in 1994. It's the seduction of power realized by the men and women in government. That and the love of money which is the root cause of all desires for power.

It's all too common, and politicians fall for it so often, it seems.

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by Snowden

Doc, if you need help in this, let me know and I will try to help you.

It's a shame that a little power can go to a person's head as this sets out re Tom DeLay. It's not the party, as we can realize by referring back to the call for reform by Newt Gingrich in that turn-around in 1994. It's the seduction of power realized by the men and women in government. That and the love of money which is the root cause of all desires for power.

It's all too common, and politicians fall for it so often, it seems.

I'm still waiting for the investigation and trial to occur before I make up my mind on Delay, but I'm inclined to believe that he is no better than many other politicians, both Republican and Democratic. Neither party is lily white.

[Shooterman]

Originally Posted by Woodmonkey

I'm still waiting for the investigation and trial to occur before I make up my mind on Delay, but I'm inclined to believe that he is no better than many other politicians, both Republican and Democratic. Neither party is lily white.

And by a heap, no worse.

Delay may be, by some standards, a scumbag. Considering some of the ones the DIMS had in power in their 50 years of rule, Tom Delay is a Boy Scout. I see this as little more than a witch hunt and payback time by Ronnie Earle. BAH!

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by Shooterman

And by a heap, no worse.

Delay may be, by some standards, a scumbag. Considering some of the ones the DIMS had in power in their 50 years of rule, Tom Delay is a Boy Scout. I see this as little more than a witch hunt and payback time by Ronnie Earle. BAH!

Yes, no worse than the rest of them either.

[MR Nasty]

I no longer reside in TX and a guy with my two Senators... cough cough... should really not be speaking but, if he is going to harm his party anymore, Delay should just get out of the limelight. I dont mean that he is a bad guy, let the law determine that. He kind of draws fire if you know what I mean.