Friday, December 21, 2007

How successful was this Congress?


On the one hand, Bush and the Republicans stopped all forward movement on withdrawal from Iraq and the other major bills the Democrats wanted.

On the other hand, the specific legislation Democrats promised in their New Direction Agenda were all passed but one. Another one on stem cell research was vetoed. This is in sharp contrast to Newt's Contract with America's agenda in 1995.

They did end up with weaker versions of the bills on the agenda then they were hoping for.

They also were not willing to fight as hard and dirty as the GOP yet. Even Rep. John Conyers, who has been keeping the pressure on the White House and the administration, admitted he is more afraid of what the main stream media thinks then pleasing his constituents.

And impeachment is still off the table, despite the majority of American's wishes.:
AMY GOODMAN: These numbers, Congressman Conyers, quickly, American Research Group, 45% of Americans would back impeachment proceedings against Bush, 54%—that’s more than half the American people—would back the same against Cheney. Your response?

REP. JOHN CONYERS: Well, I respect whoever they are, but I’ve got to produce the votes inside the Congress, and that’s where our first battle is going to be. I had Ray McGovern in my first Downing Street memos hearings in the basement a few years back, in which we revealed that the war in Iraq was more preemptive than anything else. But marching into history, I’ve got to put together a winning program and not step on our message. We’ve got a lot of legislation to accomplish. The minority party in the House has been—and the Senate, too—have been very effective in preventing us from moving forward.

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