Congressional Perspective

"Perspective"

03/24/2007

Paul Munnis


It was a heady moment for Democrats yesterday when the House approved a Military Spending Bill that caps war costs and set a deadline for ending the war in Iraq. By doing so they stopped the bleeding of our treasury and troops while giving Mr. Bush enough time to make his surge plan work.

The Bill now needs to clear the Senate and it will face a lot of delay tactics and much procedural obstruction on its way to passage.

Democrats are hopeful that it will pass in the Senate after their budget victory there yesterday -- the first major Democratic victory since the Senate convened. That Bill was seen as a test over whether the Democrats could manage the Senate with such a slim margin. It seems clear now that anything requiring a 60% vote is going to be difficult to pass and that much negotiation will be needed in such cases but with reasonable crafting and Party compromise it can be gotten through the Senate.

With that said it is a moment to recognize that several major things happened yesterday.

The GOP is no longer running Congress and they now “get it.”

Mr. Bush no longer has a “rubber-stamp” Congress and has experienced a healthy dose of oversight and humility. More important Mr. Bush has passed into “Lame Duck President” status. Bush is pretty much finished up in government now.

There is a return of balance to the equality of the two branches of government making it in the interest of the White House to work closely with Congress.

Congress has taken budgetary control back to a point where the Executive proposes and the Congress disposes.

Our military can begin to plan for equipping and rebuilding itself.

The infrastructure investment in America is getting a boost.

Conditions for the return of military vets to America especially for wounded vets, are being focused upon, have been funded for repair and upgrade, and the schedule for improvement accelerated.

Government has been put onto a “pay as you go” basis and the deficit is being stared down. Democrats have set a goal of 2012 to retire the deficit.

These are major accomplishments and have done a lot to create hope among Americans.

The next big effort for the Congress is in dealing with Separation of Powers between Congress and the Executive branch. The Gonzales case is the test case for that and is well on its way to being resolved.

There are still rough times ahead but America is back on course. We are right to rejoice.