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Admitting mistakes
By Seymour Klierly In last week's column I compared the Senate farm bill floor debate to a NASCAR race running under the yellow flag. When I wrote it, I had in my mind that eventually the green flag would be waved and the race would begin. I was pretty sure Majority Leader Reid, Chairman Harkin, Republican Leader McConnell and Ranking Member Chambliss would eventually reach an agreement on a list of twenty or so amendments. Debate would then begin and by the time Congress left for Thanksgiving, the Senate would have passed a farm bill. I had assumed the principals involved on both sides would discontinue their grandstanding and actually move forward. Obviously, I was wrong (we all know what happens when you assume). Here it is, one week after Reid brought debate to a screeching halt, and nothing has been accomplished since. No deal yet, no movement on the farm bill, and certainly no increased faith in the will of Congress to do anything but fight political battles. The farm bill is just the next piece of legislation to fall victim to the juggernaut known as partisanship in Washington. If you boil down the work that Congress must do each year to their core, all you're left with are the twelve appropriations bills. These bills are the only bills that must pass every year for the government to continue operating. That's it. If Congress were to complete those bills, they could take the rest of the year off. Coincidentally, at the beginning of each year, the majority leaders in both chambers set a tentative schedule that lists the middle of November as the last day for legislative work for the year. The tentative schedule is based off of the assumption that Congress will have passed and the president will have signed all of the appropriations bills. Yet every year this schedule slips to accommodate one or two or three appropriations bills that weren't completed. However, this year is anything but typical. To date, only one of the twelve appropriations bills is finished...just one. While the House has been diligent and passed all twelve, the Senate has passed only two of the twelve (remember, a bill must go to a conference committee after Senate passage). Therefore, ten of the twelve bills aren't even in their final drafts! Here it is the middle of November, with three and a half weeks of legislative session left and only one appropriations bill is complete. I seem to recall the Democrat Party's mantra in the last election being they would put an end to the "do nothing Congress" stigma. I also seem to recall both Leaders Reid and Pelosi vowing to hold votes on Fridays and Mondays. Just like most New Year resolutions, that too fell by the wayside. This column started by my admitting I was wrong to assume that some sort of civility could be reached on the Senate floor to pass a farm bill. Maybe it's time for our elected officials to take a hard look at their actions, and then prove me right. Date: 11/14/07
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