There is so much wrong with this story, it’s mind-boggling.
The House of Representatives is expected to take action Thursday on a bipartisan agreement ending a dispute over disaster relief spending that threatened to cause a partial shutdown of the government by the end of the week.
Specifically, the House is set to approve a one-week government funding extension on Thursday, followed by a more comprehensive measure next week that will keep Washington funded through November 18, according to the office of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia.
So that’s how we’re doing it now? It’s a legislative victory when we muster all our resources to agree not to shut down the government and instead to continue relief for Americans devastated by disaster…for one week? And the more comprehensive measure, the big blockbuster deal, is to keep the government operating right through part of the month after next?
Houston, we have a problem.
I wish I could remember which pundit noted that Congress can no longer do more than one thing at a time, because he or she nailed it. It now takes days or even weeks for Republicans and tea partiers to get their talking points coordinated, to make their positions monolithic, to marshal every resource to fight any proposal, no matter how reasonable, put forth by Democrats. The age of multitasking in Congress is over. Now it’s just one very painful and bloody battle after another, fought on only one front at a time.
The Republicans and tea partiers in Congress have proven that as long as you don’t care how ridiculous and childish you appear, you can get your way. If you care less about governing than you do about disrupting, you can indeed bring things to a stop. But this is not leadership, and it’s nothing to be proud of.
