-Caveat Lector-
Democrats Kill Bipartisan Spirit
By Jennifer G. Hickey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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The Democratic leadership doesn't seem to be able to accept the fact that
George W. Bush won the election as they continue their bitter opposition to
all Bush-administration proposals.
Such memories of the 1960s and 1970s as flared, magenta-colored, corduroy
hip-huggers; the penchant for shunning daily bathing; and, well, the
Bee-Gees, should deter any latent nostalgia for the era. But the May Day
mêlées on the streets of London, as well as in Germany and even Norway,
suggest a curious atavism that would return the left to those thrilling days
of yesteryear even as the realities of the present have paved a different
road.
Though they lack the schoolboy Lenins and retro syndicalists now on
display among postpubescent protesters in several European cities, the
leaders of the Democratic Party also have been out of sync with reality,
shouting Bolshevist clichés and renewing their vows to the past. One sign of
this is their passion for the revolutionary myth that George W. Bush is a
royalist usurper who got the imperialist Supreme Court to steal the election
from Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, refusing to count thousands
of Gore votes in Florida. And never mind all those media-sponsored recounts
confirming Bush's victory.
As a means of keeping this bit of guerrilla theater fresh in the
minds of its core constituencies, the Democratic National Committee (DNC)
has launched the Voting Rights Institute (VRI), a brainchild of former Gore
campaign manager Donna Brazile and DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe. Established
as "a permanent arm of the DNC," the VRI's proclaimed goal is to "deepen"
the democratic process - with the unstated expectation of collateral benefit
for the Democratic Party.
The VRI scheduled the first in a series of regional hearings for May
7 in Florida to listen to claims of voter irregularities and seek solutions
such as may be found by increasing Democratic registration. Ironically, the
hearings were set only after many states already had pushed ahead with
election reforms and after the much-demonized Florida Senate voted May 4 for
a $32 million reform package, which included a ban on the chad-producing
punch-card ballot.
In denial, and hallucinating that either Bush stole the election or
Green Party candidate Ralph Nader played the spoiler, the Democratic
leadership appears to have decided on a therapy of exclamation and
declamation. With the House preparing to vote on the compromise $1.95
trillion budget bill, Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri moaned,
"This is the day that we decide to give huge tax cuts to the wealthiest
special interests . the day that we decide to not fund education programs,
even though the president has said over and over again that this was his No.
1 priority." Oh woe, oh misery!
Struggling to find a pithy explanation for passing a nonbinding
budget resolution, Gephardt concluded, "I think the American people have
begun to understand that this is all talk and no action." If the trends
exhibited in the just-released Battleground 2002 poll are indicative,
Gephardt is the one who needs to take action.
Conducted by Republican Ed Goeas and Democrat Celinda Lake, the April
22-24 survey found 58 percent approval of the way Bush is handling the
presidency, with only 28 percent disapproving. More importantly, notes
Goeas, Bush is above 50 percent among several swing groups: independents,
seniors, suburban whites and married working mothers. In addition, the GOP
is viewed by 42 percent of those polled as the party capable of reforming
education (compared with 39 percent for Democrats) and is thought better
suited to cut government waste (by 41 percent versus 30 percent for
Democrats).
Although Democrats still lead on the issue of health care and
"protecting the middle class," they appear to have been unable to put
together a coherent message in Bush's first 100 days. In fact, after
spending two election cycles campaigning against a "do-nothing Republican
Congress," the agenda of the congressional Democratic leadership now appears
to be no more ambitious than just to stop anything the Republicans propose.
"It's scary to think that they are rudderless without Al Gore," an
aide to the top GOP leadership tells Insight. "There are Democrats who have
been willing participants in bringing a new atmosphere [to Washington], but
the Democratic leadership has stood there like little kids holding their
breath for 2002."
Unable to produce a dominating presence from behind the curtain amid
the din of potential 2004 presidential aspirants, Gephardt and Senate
Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota have returned to their party's
Wizard of Oz humbuggery that "no problem ever was solved by a Republican"
and "there's nothing that can't be fixed by throwing tax money at it." This
carnival of bunkum has reached the point where Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,
chose Tax Freedom Day (by which Americans finally have earned enough to pay
the year's taxes) to announce introduction of the McGovern-Dole
International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Act. Supposedly
memorializing former senators and failed presidential contenders George
McGovern and Robert Dole, this "priority" is a five-year, $2.6 billion bill
requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to supply food commodities to
volunteer organizations for distribution to every child in the world who
goes to school hungry.
That was just the beginning. Despite having reached agreement on the
primary tenets of Bush's education package, Democrats signaled the wrangling
was about to begin. Despite recent studies rebutting the 30-year-old notion
that public education can be reformed by the simple expedient of adding more
zeros to the budget (see "Federal Bucks Get Low Grades," p. 20), Democrats
continue to engage in the old-school demagoguery.
In an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America, Sen. Edward Kennedy,
D-Mass., applauded the education compromise as a "good bipartisan bill" but
added, "We haven't got the resources yet . but we're going to battle that on
the floor" of the Senate when debate begins anew the week of May 7. Having
successfully killed a school-voucher proposal from the Senate version of the
bill, Kennedy is demanding Bush close the $1 billion spending gap that
remains between the administration proposal and Senate Democrats. Late on
May 3, the Senate passed, by voice vote, an amendment increasing federal
commitment by $2.5 billion per year (over 10 years) to poor and disabled
children.
With an evenly divided Senate and a spare GOP majority in the House,
the Democratic leadership is out to seize political control of Congress in
next year's elections, so blind attacks serve as Democratic issues of the
day. For instance, with energy prices going through the roof and spot
shortages already browning out California, the energy-policy proposals by
Vice President Richard Cheney's Energy Task Force are set for disclosure in
mid-May. The Democratic leadership didn't let the fact that the proposal had
not yet been released bother them in the slightest. Before the details were
out the door, they opened up with thunderous accusations about alleged
cutting of conservation funds and failure immediately to solve California's
power problems.
Choosing to call their bluff, Bush ordered federal agencies in
California to turn off escalators, lights, computers and fax machines when
not in use and to maintain building temperatures at an uncomfortable 78
degrees. Bush's executive memorandum, which includes restrictions at some
defense facilities, directs all agencies "to take appropriate actions to
conserve energy use at their facilities," and in regions with electricity
shortages to "conserve especially during periods of peak demand." But
Democratic criticism of the administration for not placing enough focus on
conservation continued blindly.
Yet the most contentious debate exploded at the end of the week with
Republicans and Democrats battling about procedures for settling on judicial
nominations. Democrats contended Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin
Hatch of Utah altered the rules by asserting that a judicial nominee does
not have to enjoy the support of both home-state senators. "He has changed
the policy he's used for the past six years," declared David Carle,
spokesman for the committee's ranking Democrat, Leahy.
Carle also cites the administration's decision not to consult the
American Bar Association (ABA) in vetting judicial selections. "The process
makes a difference," he notes, insisting that "including the ABA ensures
consultation" with all senators. A GOP committee source, speaking on the
condition of anonymity, says Democrats simply want excuses to block judicial
nominations out of "pure politics."
A letter sent to Judiciary Committee Democrats by White House Counsel
Al Gonzales on May 2 is "a sign of progress," but Carle tells Insight the
committee "spent a very heated two hours in discussion" with no resolution
forthcoming. Bush reportedly was about to begin sending his nominations to
the committee, and the Democratic leadership was swollen with bile and
threatening to hold all nominations for political ransom.
Nonetheless, with the announcement of a commission to study Social
Security and a formal commitment to a missile-defense program, Bush is
continuing to push forward with his legislative agenda, as the Democratic
leadership continues to hold its breath. And for the ambitious Democratic
leadership, that is getting to be a bigger and bigger problem.
Copyright © 2000 News World Communications, Inc.
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