We The People....Disapprove

According to a recently released WSJ/NBC poll a huge majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the 109th congress. Only 33% of the electorate approves of the job congress is doing, which is the lowest such level since 1994 and is six points lower than last month and eight points lower than it was in January. On the face of it this looks like bad news for the Republican majority, however both parties are in bad shape and neither one seems to be in any position to move on the other. While the Republicans are in many ways failing, the Democrats are doing an even worse job.

But first let me address the Republicans, who in the '04 elections expanded their majorities in both houses and seemed poised to enact the agenda that they and the president had campaigned on. To this date however they really haven't delivered, with the only real accomplishments being the tort reform and bankruptcy bills. Instead of boldly seeking to reform American institutions to meet the needs and challenges of the 21st century, Republicans have sat on their hands and have been afraid to do anything that might jeopardize their majority. Their timid attempts to convince the public to get behind Social Security reform is the greatest example of this.

Furthermore, the judicial stalemate that has been looming over the Senate for months now has not been resolved. Sen. Frist and the GOP leadership should have done this months ago, and I am simply tired of hearing about it and want congress to deal with more important issues such as Social Security and the tax code. Whatever Sen. Frist and the Senate leadership decide to do at this point, and it is abundantly clear that the "nuclear" option is where they plan on going, they need to do it now so the Senate can turn it's focus from the procedural junk it has been preoccupied with so far and back to the people's business where it belongs.

The fact that Republicans even have to bring about a vote on the "nuclear" option in the first place brings us to the Democrats' problems, who are currently in no position to take advantage of the Republicans' vulnerabilities. Instead of providing Americans with their own agenda and vision, the Democrats have offered nothing but antagonistic obstructionism to the president and the Republican agenda, as well as the indefensible filibustering of judges who deserve an up or down vote. We've heard a lot of criticism and opposition on their part, what we haven't heard is what they would do instead. Republicans were able to take over congress in '94 because they had an agenda and a direction that Republican candidates all over the country subscribed to. If the Democrats are going to achieve a similar takeover in '06 they are going to have to do the exact same thing. Simply trying to block anything and everything and demonizing Tom Delay will not cut it, and I believe it's going to take new leadership within the party to realize this.