Posted by
Reeson on Monday, January 15, 2007 5:18:40 PM
I've commented before that the 100-hour agenda was purely a dog-and-pony show for the public. "Look, we did this." Or, "Look, we did that." But how much will actually get through the Senate and be signed by the President. The House can pass anything it wants, but that's only part of the process. Besides, the 100-hour agenda is only a diversion because the Dems don't have a plan for Iraq that can counter anything the President tries to do. Excerpts from
CNS News:
By Monisha Bansal
Assessing the first 100 hours of the Democrat-led Congress, two policy analysts said the seven-point agenda House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is in the process of pushing through is largely symbolic and even "timid."
In the first 100 legislative hours -- as defined by Pelosi's countdown clock -- the speaker promised to enact new ethics rules and to pass legislation to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendation, increase the minimum wage, expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, negotiate lower prescription drug prices, cut interest rates on student loans and end oil subsidies.
"I don't think [Democrats] are doing what the people wanted them to do," said Brian Doherty, a columnist and senior editor with the libertarian Reason Magazine.
Doherty said that 45 percent of Americans said Iraq should be Congress' top priority. "The next one on the list -- jobs and the economy -- was down to six percent," Doherty said. "Overwhelmingly, this is what people want acted on first."
On the stem cell research funding bill, which passed on Thursday, Doherty said the Democrats knew Bush would veto it again, as he did last year with a previous, identical bill.
"School loans -- again, that's a sop to their middle class constituency, it's not an issue of vital importance to most Americans, particularly the least well-off Americans," Doherty added.
Doherty said the Pelosi agenda was "not particularly significant to the American people."