The New Year inevitably produces spasms of optimism; get in shape, eat smarter, quit smoking, find a better job. Whether we follow through is another question, but at least the intent is there.
The 114th Congress, with re-elected and new lawmakers, began their work yesterday with at least a modicum of buoyancy. Republicans, now in control of the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, pledge action and progress—two things that have been missing in Washington lately.
The Wall Street Journal said the legislative session begins with “a refreshed sense of possibility in Washington.” Perhaps, the Journal opined, the new Congress would actually try to “solve a problem or three.”
Well, maybe, especially if politics are, as German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck believed, “the art of the possible.” Lately Washington politics have been more a cycle of mutually assured destruction. The festering gridlock sets up the attack ads for the next election cycle, but creates zero traction for running the country.
Politico reports that new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promises not to shut down the government and no more threats of default. The “first, do no harm” approach is a good starting point for the Senate. Sure, it rankles the more conservative wing of the GOP, but the ideological high ground can be a lonely safe haven.
Speaking of intransigence, the Obama administration announced just as the new Congress was getting to work that the President would veto a bill authorizing construction of the Keystone Pipeline—one of the first pieces of legislation the GOP-led Senate wants to take up. Additionally, Senate Democrats yesterday temporarily blocked Republican efforts to have a quick vote on Keystone.
“We all know that one of the things the Senate is best at is not doing much,” quipped McConnell, “and I hope we can work this out so we can get started.”
The new Congress may try yet again to overturn Obamacare, in what would be a pointless exercise destined for a Presidential veto. A more logical approach, and one that would get some bipartisan support, would be to remove the unpopular medical device tax and restore the definition of a full-time work week under Obamacare to 40 hours.
Beltway belligerence makes good copy. It’s the feedstock of 24-hour cable news, radio talk shows and political blogs. Cooperation is, well, boring, and also traitorous to the more entrenched wings of both parties.
All elections, including the last one, are about the people, in whom the power is vested, giving their consent to be governed. The voters did their job. It’s time for those elected to do theirs.