Friday, June 16, 2006
WHY NOT TRY THIS, DEMOCRATIC SIGNING STATEMENTS
The use of the House and Senate as a part of the Republican elections campaign this year ranks as some of the most irresponsible and immoral politics of recent times. Considering a lot of recent time included Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay, that's saying something.
The primary feature of Republican bills as election platform includes blatant blackmailing of Democrats. They either bring up bad bills worded for full political use or they add bad things to vitally important measures. Either way Democrats are damned if they do or damned if they don't.
The poison add- ons pinned to bills essential to supplying the troops shouldn't work for Republicans, they are blatantly political and they are an insult to the women and men that the Republicans have sent to fight an illegal and futile war of conquest. But never underestimate the lengths the Republican media will go to to lie and give cover to the most obscene acts of their chosen party.
Democrats don't have the power in Washington to stop it. So they have to vote for these things in full expectation that the Republican sound boards, what used to be called the free press, will use their votes to really support the troops against them. Tim Russert probably has his dialogue in draft right now.
What should Democrats in the House and Senate do? Throw up their hands? Give in? Not when there's a better way.
If the President can issue signing statements based on the force of his having been elected, well, the Democratic members of the Congress can too. Whenever they are forced into voting for these bills they should issue signing statements stating that they were forced into signing and that they fully reject the Republican political add-ons. They should be written in the clearest language so that they will be understood by the average voter and they should fully condemn the cynical and irresponsible action of the Republicans.
Any individual member of the Congress has been just as elected as the President, usually more so. Any one of them can issue an individual signing statement at the time the bill is adopted by the full house and publish it for their constituents. The Democratic leadership could issue a signing statement for the caucus. Any coalition of Democrats can issue one. If they can shame a few Republicans into signing it with them, so much the better.
If the Republicans and their mouthpieces ridicule these signing statements, which they will, Democrats should do it anyway and use full and plainly stated honesty as their weapon. Could this be an idea that is so crazy it just might work? I don't know but triangulation hasn't. And that's a lot crazier.
If the Republicans are going to use government as a branch of the RNC then the Democrats have few options. What they've done in the past hasn't worked very well. They need new tactics.
The use of the House and Senate as a part of the Republican elections campaign this year ranks as some of the most irresponsible and immoral politics of recent times. Considering a lot of recent time included Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay, that's saying something.
The primary feature of Republican bills as election platform includes blatant blackmailing of Democrats. They either bring up bad bills worded for full political use or they add bad things to vitally important measures. Either way Democrats are damned if they do or damned if they don't.
The poison add- ons pinned to bills essential to supplying the troops shouldn't work for Republicans, they are blatantly political and they are an insult to the women and men that the Republicans have sent to fight an illegal and futile war of conquest. But never underestimate the lengths the Republican media will go to to lie and give cover to the most obscene acts of their chosen party.
Democrats don't have the power in Washington to stop it. So they have to vote for these things in full expectation that the Republican sound boards, what used to be called the free press, will use their votes to really support the troops against them. Tim Russert probably has his dialogue in draft right now.
What should Democrats in the House and Senate do? Throw up their hands? Give in? Not when there's a better way.
If the President can issue signing statements based on the force of his having been elected, well, the Democratic members of the Congress can too. Whenever they are forced into voting for these bills they should issue signing statements stating that they were forced into signing and that they fully reject the Republican political add-ons. They should be written in the clearest language so that they will be understood by the average voter and they should fully condemn the cynical and irresponsible action of the Republicans.
Any individual member of the Congress has been just as elected as the President, usually more so. Any one of them can issue an individual signing statement at the time the bill is adopted by the full house and publish it for their constituents. The Democratic leadership could issue a signing statement for the caucus. Any coalition of Democrats can issue one. If they can shame a few Republicans into signing it with them, so much the better.
If the Republicans and their mouthpieces ridicule these signing statements, which they will, Democrats should do it anyway and use full and plainly stated honesty as their weapon. Could this be an idea that is so crazy it just might work? I don't know but triangulation hasn't. And that's a lot crazier.
If the Republicans are going to use government as a branch of the RNC then the Democrats have few options. What they've done in the past hasn't worked very well. They need new tactics.
Comments:
<< Home
Just skimming through the first few posts, and not knowing you from Schmuck, I like how you think. The 21st century presidential signing statements in particular make me gag. Who has the effing balls (and important addition, also has power) to come up and say, "This is bullshit?"
Post a Comment
# posted by 
: 7:01 PM
: 7:01 PM << Home
