Waiting For Senate - Will This Bus Ever Arrive?

Significant legislation has been piling up in the Senate for some time now. According to The Progressive Professor site, 290 bills have passed the House and await action in the Senate. Among the measures is a bill removing earmarks given to for-profit organizations. Conservative Democrats are opposed to it because it will cost jobs. Republicans say their opposition is all about principle and they just want all earmarks removed. Both groups leave out their pockets being stuffed with contributions from these same organizations.

Another bill languishing concerns removing the middleman from the Student Loan Program. At present, private banks administer the governments money to recipients, adding costs to both the lender and recipients. Cutting out the banks and making the government the direct lender would save billions. Who could object? Well, Republicans and conservative Democrats. They claim this will hurt the job market because, it seems, they fear bankers will lose their jobs. There you go, side with the bankers, and then wonder why you lose in November.

National school standards, needed to correct the race to the bottom caused by No Child Left Behind, has also stalled. Conservatives claim this would be too much government interference. I guess they think it was okay to force the states to lower their standards so they would not be punished under the provisions of No Child Left Behind, but somehow it is wrong to reward those who raise standards.

This story is getting tedious. No matter what the issue, the script reads the same. President Obama talks of moving forward on a new initiative with a fresh spirit of bipartisanship. The House of Representatives quickly pass legislation. John Boehner attacks and says "Speaker Pelosi has rammed another bill down our throats." Eric Cantor urges caution about "changing the fabric of our nation." Rush and Beck go apoplectic. Palin continues to be incoherent. And then we get to the Senate. Harry Reid announces that the bill will be carefully considered and all opinions sought. Mitch McConnell will denounce the bill as government expansion on an unprecedented scale, but announce that he is once again "willing to be bipartisan and negotiate." Then Reid appoints Democrats who don't really like the bill to negotiate with Republicans who are planning to stall and negotiate in bad faith. A watered down version with no teeth eventually emerges from the appropriate Senate committee, passing along party lines.

Then comes the filibuster. Well, not an actual filibuster but a threat of one. This virtual filibuster has served to completely stifle the Senate for some time. Acting as if there can be no votes unless there are sixty votes for something has stymied action on numerous bills. Ah, but the Democrats had sixty you say. Yes, and this is where the next act starts. Raise the curtain on a few "moderate" Democrats who suddenly find reasons to object. This is the hostage scene. Suddenly, a few see the opportunity to grab some pork, power or votes and threaten to bring it all down unless they get their way.

Procedure and process then enter as the fall guys. It's the filibuster we are told. But no one is ever forced to filibuster because somehow that might be going too far.

And that's how a bill doesn't become a law.