It’s back to work for Congress

Published 01-16-2020

Congress is returning to D.C. after a not so quiet Christmas recess. Although, with the prevalence of cable news and 24 hour news programming and Senate floor speeches from both Majority and Minority leaders on more than one issue of the day, there wasn’t a lack of content from our elected officials.

It seems there wasn’t much of a break in the Senate, as Leader McConnell never officially gaveled out before Christmas. I wonder how much of it is to keep the Trump administration from making recess appointments? McConnell is fiercely protective of the Senate’s advise and consent role and Senate traditions, keeping the Senate in session during the last two years of the Obama Administration. While the partisan in me is thoroughly annoyed President Trump’s working structure is hampered in staffing, the constitutionalist part is more thrilled that there is concern for doing the Congress’s work in a manner laid out as the framers intended.

It may be a token effort against a tide of socialist nonsense, but it is noticed. And as has been shown, the Senate’s priorities are their own, not necessarily those of the Executive Branch or the House.

Speaker Pelosi found that out in spectacular fashion during her impeachment leverage fiasco, which not only didn’t work, but also blew up the “matter of absolute urgency” narratives that Democrats were trying to sell the American public.

In fact, after weeks of delay, Speaker Pelosi announced Monday that the House would be voting to send the Articles of Impeachment, and I’m assuming naming House managers to present the case to the Senate after McConnell announced he would co-sponsor a bill to “deem” the Articles passed to the Senate and dismissed without a trial.

I would imagine the threat to pass the Articles to the Senate, much like Harry Reid did during the Obamacare debate, was a move that Democrat’s didn’t expect McConnell to take. Again that pesky precedence coming back to bite the Democrats in these partisan games.

I wouldn’t expect much real output from our combined halls of Congress, while the House continues to pass all matter of legislation that meant to mollify and rally their base but has zero chance of passage, the Senate will continue to work on McConnell’s priorities - trade and judges. Passage of the USMCA and a continuing slate of district and appeals court justices are short term priorities, which McConnell will now balance with an impeachment trail, which can go anywhere from six to eight weeks. Sanders, Warren and Klobuchar will be neutralized, though Senator Klobuchar has been a non-entity in in the presidential race, and is not one of the go-to leaders of the party. But for Warren and Sanders, the impeachment stakes are a little higher.

In the run up to the Iowa Caucus votes, the main contenders to establishment favorite Joe Biden, will be stuck in D.C. for the duration, leaving Joe and Mayor Pete to roam the corn fields and coffee shops synonymous with Iowa voting.

That might be a net positive for Democrats, who see a hit with voters whenever Warren and Sanders get too descriptive about their plans for America, and the costs associated with them respectively. At last check, Sanders looks to double federal spending. It’s so outside the realm of believability that any of his platform is taken seriously, but I can see how people disillusioned with our corrupted system think that an ever bigger federal government solving their problems would be the preferred answer.

The cynic in me knows that nothing major, legislation wise, will happen in an election year beyond what has already cleared hurdles, Democrats don’t want to give Trump bipartisan victories, or lend credence to a President they are continuing to try to frame as illegitimate. USMCA got a pass because union labor still has enough pull inside the party and pressed on those levers.

I expect the House to continue to shine a spotlight on the President’s actions through Congressional investigations, and we know she isn’t concerned about running further impeachment hearings., further eroding the actual power of impeachment for future presidents.

The Senate has shown itself to be perfectly content to continue the remaking of our judicial branch, which has a far more reaching effect than any legislation they could pass. Between replacing over a third of our district bench, the Trump Administration will place more judges into lifetime appointments than any other administration at it’s current pace.

It will have a lasting impact, far beyond Trump’s lifetime most certainly.

When you actually look at results, is won’t surprise many that the only things to make it out of Pelosi’s Congress look much like what has been emblematic of a Congress that polls somewhere slightly above Ebola. Budgets and deals for those connected to the power structure, little work on what matters to working and middle class Americans.

While the Dow and financial markets are growing like gangbusters, wages aren’t rising nearly as quickly. The metrics of national health are still those of our economic systems, not taking into account the quality of life issues that make the American Dream worth chasing.

While President Trump touts historically low unemployment (worth applauding) California residents can’t expect a police response if their property is stolen in many of California’s major cities.

Our city streets resemble an out of control mental asylum being run by the patients. Fecal matter is making it’s way into California waterways, including those used for drinking water, and the Governor’s answer is for the state study the feasibility of shipping homeless people to be housed within county fairgrounds.

I guess the problem is considered fixed if those living on the streets aren’t that visible to the tourists, news cameras and commuters.

San Francisco’s newest District Attorney’s first act of office, firing the handful of city DA’s that were considered tough on crime within their office. It’s safe to say their definition of tough on crime fell somewhere well below mine, but there’s more than one reason we moved to rural Tennessee rather than the California coast. While I feel bad for the residents of San Francisco, and the further spiral downward of a once beautiful city, their vote to usher in a full blown socialist as the keeper of the law was one they made and celebrated with glowing profiles of the new hire.

Yes, Trump has ushered in a new era of American dominance. But for just a little while, can we focus some attention on the realities of domestic politics outside of the Acela corridor... and the issues facing people who spend more time on Main Street, not Pennsylvania Avenue.