The Teary, Busy, Ugly Lame Duck Congress
The no-nonsense Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, broke down in tears while delivering an ode to a departing colleague. One Republican threatened to gum up the legislative works by demanding that the Senate clerk read aloud a 1,900-page spending bill that was ultimately shelved. A partisan feud erupted over — of all things — Christmas, when Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, warned that he might reconvene his chamber after the holiday. On Capitol Hill, votes were on, then suddenly off. President Obama put his Hawaiian vacation on hold.
So it went as Congress slogged its way through the waning days of a grueling lame-duck session, taking up a string of weighty issues — tax cuts, spending, a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, the military’s ban on open service by gays — under an intense time crunch. Nearly one fifth of those doing the voting were packing boxes or sending out résumés. Is this any way to conduct the nation’s business?
“Absolutely, it’s not,” said Trent Lott, the former Senate Republican leader. “I hated lame-duck sessions. I always spoke out against them, and always argued they would be counterproductive. You’re scrunched in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a lot of people are mad about the election, you’ve got people voting on critical issues who are going to be gone in two weeks, and they’re always ugly.”
New York Times
12/19/10
Magnolia Tribune
