Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Have you ever seen such a rush to avoid representative democracy?

Last time I checked, the American people decided to kick a bunch of Democrats out of Washington.  The election was in November but the losers remain in office until January.  That's the way it works.  Every two years there is a lame duck session of Congress.  But not every lame duck session tries to ram through legislation to enact the policy ideas that got those lame ducks fired in the first place.  This one, however, seems to be doing just that.  (Link to story here.)

The soon-to-be minority (at least in the House of Representatives) Democrats have pushed on "Don't ask - Don't tell."  They've pushed on the so-called DREAM Act.  And they've pushed on tax increases among other things.

Now, they've unveiled a $1.2 trillion (yes, that is with a "T") spending bill.  It includes $8 billion in earmarks.

Certain issues, do, of course, need to be dealt with immediately and cannot wait for the new congressmen and women to take their seats in January - like taking definitive action to prevent the coming January 1 tax increase for all taxpayers.

On the other hand, most of the issues being raised by the Democrats are being raised now simply because they have no hope of passage when the breath of fresh air arrives (and takes over) in January.

But isn't Congress elected to do the will of the people?  Apparently, Democrats don't think so.

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