about anything he wants to.
Now that the Democrats have retaken congress, the question is; Does it really
make a damn bit of difference in the grand scheme of things? After all, ever
since the Reagan years congressional Democrats have been migrating to the
right on issues that used to separate the two parties. For example, Nebraska’s
Senator Ben Nelson is pro-life, anti-gun control and anti-taxes. You’d be hard
pressed to find a congressman who opposes the death penalty, but you‘ll find
plenty on both sides of the aisle who denounce the death tax.
The Democrats made a big deal out their opposition to the war during the last
election, but where was the opposition before we invaded? A persistent,
unwavering, vocal opposition might have been able to stop this disaster before
it started. For example, if somebody had consistently pointed out that Saddam
wasn’t involved in 9/11 and wasn’t known to be involved in terrorism it might
have countered the Bush administration’s tactic of connecting Saddam to those
things by innuendo. But the Democrats didn’t want to go on record opposing a
glorious victory. Only after it’s gone bad and the opinion polls are turning
against it do they find the gonads to oppose it.
Now that we’re in it there’s really not a lot they can do about it. All of their hand
wringing isn’t going to bring our troops home or make things better for the
people of Iraq. I’m certain that if Bush had not been president we would have
attacked Afghanistan but not Iraq. That’s not a difference between Democrats
and Republicans though, it’s a difference between a normal, rational person
and an imperious ideologue with a tenuous grasp on reality.
So what differences will we see for the next two years? At least the president
won’t have a rubber-stamp congress devoted to his agenda. We probably won’
t be seeing any further tax cuts for awhile. Not that Democrats are above
promising their voters lower taxes at election time, but most of them don’t go
along with the Republicans’ cut-taxes-at-all-costs philosophy.
What we will see is the Democrats passing legislation that their constituents
tend to prefer, like a minimum wage hike and health care reforms, only to see
the president veto them. In other words, two years of stagnation. Which isn’t
necessarily a bad thing. At least when the government does nothing you know
that they can’t do much damage.
The point is, Democrats and Republicans are no longer the two main political
groups in Washington. Instead it’s moderates (Democrats and a few
Republicans) and conservatives (Republicans and a few Democrats) and the
differences between the two groups is usually just a matter of degree. In other
words, it’s not a question of whether taxes should be cut, but by how much and
for whose benefit. What we need is a brand new party that can rival the
Demopublicans. Maybe even one that isn’t afraid of being called by the L-word.
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