The Problem with the Democrats

Glen Greenwald, over at Salon.com, has written a great piece on the cowardice of Congressional Democrats. In it he points out that the Democrats have become the lapdogs of a president with abysmal approval ratings. The fact that Democrats are running so scared from such an unpopular president is not the only problem; additionally, their embarrassing performances almost always backfire. Greenwald points out:

As always (see e.g., Iraq War Authorization, warrantless eavesdropping, Military Commissions Act), they capitulate in order to prevent the vote from being used against them, even though it ends up being used against them anyway because so many of them vote (with futility) against it, but do so without ever fighting for, explaining or defending their position.

We've seen this before. The Iraq war authorization is the obvious example, but look also at John Kerry's inability to explain his stance on war funding ("I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it..."). It's time for Democrats to stop being embarrassed by their own votes. It is because they continue to be cowed by Republican threats, that Trent Lott is able to get away with this crap. Lott, like Michael Chertoff, has used vagaries founded on hunches to intimidate Congress into further expanding presidential power. And the 16 Senate Democrats who voted in favor of the president's plant for reworking FISA have let them get away with it.

Kudos, though, to Russ Feingold, who had this to say:

"The day we start deferring to someone who's not a member of this body ... is a sad day for the U.S. Senate. We make the policy -- not the executive branch."

Feingold ought to be the role model for Democrats in Congress. Sigh.... if only...

Health Care for Poor Children.... A No-Brainer

The Senate voted yesterday, with a veto-proof majority of 68-31, to extend government-funded health care to the children of people who cannot afford private insurance. Bravo. According to the Washington Post, this expansion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program would be designed to fill the dangerous gap between Medicaid and private health insurance. Kevin Drum, over at Political Animal, sums up the opposition best:

Screaming "socialized medicine" over and over just isn't going to do the trick this time.

While the bill was passed with actual bipartisan support in the Senate, its much more ambitious House version saw more bickering and a much narrower vote (225-204) - hardly veto-proof. And it looks like President Bush will move to veto it. The Times quoted HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt as saying the expansion is legislation "the president will have no choice but to veto.” (Typical of White House gall, Leavitt accused Congress of denying health care to children passing legislation that will, gasp, fund health care for children).
If Bush does veto the final version of the bill, SCHIP will expire on September 30, and become the dominant health care issue in the 2008 campaign. In the meantime, however, those children and families who depend on federal assistance will be left in the lurch.
And we're supposed to believe it's Congress's fault.