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The Grown-ups are Back in Chargeby Joel S. Peskoff
Back in grade school I remember Greg Wilson, a thin self-conscious shy boy who was tormented daily by the schoolyard bully. After a relentless year of unprovoked punishment, Greg had enough. He fought back. It was exhilarating witnessing Greg land a well-deserved jaw cracking punch in reaction to that bully shoving Greg. Well, that's how I felt on election night!
Pundits attribute the Democratic sweep to the public's discontent with current Iraq policy. I believe it is something more. It's a reaction to government run immaturely by bullies. Voters told the Republicans, "You wrecked the family car so we're taking away your keys." From Iraq to Katrina to federal debt running out of control, our leaders ran the government like it was a hobby. Then, there was the arrogance. If you disagree, you're fired or swift-boated.
Republican rule uprooted established norms of Congressional conduct and behavior. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert marginalized Democrats to the point of irrelevance. He locked Democrats out of important legislation drafting sessions. During the 2003 Medicare bill's roll call vote, Speaker Hastert kept the vote open for as long as it would take to arm twist and bribe Republican support for the bill's passage, in this case, three-hours. He would have kept the vote open for three days, if necessary.
Just last year, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) was forced to hold a 'forum' (because he couldn't call it a hearing) in the basement of the U.S. Capitol when Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) denied him an official hearing on the Downing Street Memo, the document that suggests that prewar intelligence was intentionally manipulated. To further frustrate Conyers, Speaker Hastert scheduled 11 Congressional votes conflicting with the forum's schedule.
Sen. John McCain warned his Republican colleagues, "The Republicans had better hope that the Democrats never regain the majority." Well Senator, that day has arrived and Democrats are poised to give the Republicans a taste of their own medicine (the expensive non-Canadian type.)
However, I urge Democrats to forgo revenge and act like adults in charge of running a nation. Punishing the Republicans certainly is appealing, especially considering how shabbily Democrats were treated under Republican rule. However, wise leadership dictates maturity. Like overindulged children, the Republicans showed us that they had no respect for rules and changed them to win - a basically anti-democratic practice that Democrats should not mimic.
House Speaker Pelosi (geez, that sounds good) vowed to strengthen ethical guidelines before Democrats slide into the hole that Republicans fell. However, ethics rules aren't enough. Congress needs to regain historical civility. The people didn't throw out the Republicans just to elevate the Democrats to bully status. They want Congress to act like adults.
Changing some childish practices will go a long way toward restoring civility. Notably, rules that allocate staff and office space to the majority party. Each House member represents Americans. Why should some citizens have a Congressperson with fewer staff than others just because that citizen is unlucky enough to be represented by a member of the minority party? Staff and resources should be essentially equalized by formula.
Let's face it, all House members and Senators get lavish accommodations. I object to my tax dollars being spent so Congressman and Senators can childishly play musical chairs with premium office space every time the balance of power shifts. Office space should be allocated on the basis of seniority, period.
There is much to do (and much to undo) and we don't have the time to waste on childish nonsense. Let's move on the people's agenda.
