Posted by
cehwiedel on Tuesday, September 05, 2006 1:17:52 PM
Congress has reconvened following the August break, and will work until the Fall campaign break on September 29th. Today's deadtree edition of the
Wall Street Journal lists these topics as doable before the next break:
- defense appropriation (supposed to be taken up today)
- homeland/port security
- military tribunals
- warrantless wiretapping
Here's the
WSJ's
maybe list:
- tax breaks
- offshore drilling
And here are the topics that the
WSJ thinks are
no-way:
- budget resolution
- immigration
A couple of topics in the doable category, namely military tribunals and warrantless wiretapping, are on the agenda more for showboating than anything else. The time spent preening to the media will prevent action on more important topics in the
maybe and
no-way categories, namely tax breaks and immigration.
Another arm of the
WSJ, the Political Diary, warns about the possible consequences if nothing is done about immigration:
It's no secret that many Republican lawmakers oppose passing any immigration bill this year, fearing their base will reject anything that goes beyond beefing up border security. But there is historical precedent for the view that ignoring real solutions to such a pressing issue also can have negative political consequences.
Some voters still cast ballots on the basis of whether a political party can actually pass legislation. If a GOP Congress working with a Republican president fails to address immigration, many voters will question what exactly they are capable of accomplishing.
If you would like to see Congress take up the immigration topic in particular, let your
Senators and
Representatives hear from you.
[You are invited to visit
www.cehwiedel.com, where I write on many topics other than the members of the California delegation to the United States Senate.]