THE NEW CONGRESS

I am very pleased at the outcome of the midterm election. That statement probably comes as a surprise to some people. Divided government, I believe, is crucial to producing the best government. The Republican Congress was doing a horrible job, anyway, oversight of the Executive Branch was non-existent, and there was zero fiscal discipline. Normally, the Democrats would not be the ones to take up these issues in principle, but the current crop of Dems campaigned on such issues as a balanced budget, ethics reforms, presidential oversight and a new look at the old problem called Iraq.

There will undoubtedly be bills passed by the Democrat Legislative branch that I disapprove of, but there will certainly be bills I support. There were bills passed under the Republican Congress that I didn't like: the Southern Wall, most recently.

As for Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, I welcome her to history. Her views on issues are generally much more liberal than mine, and moreso than most of the country I could argue, but as the leader of the House has to be a consensus-builder among her own party -- and don't forget that most of the Democrat victors that gave the party the majority are Blue Dog Democrats. I'm not too worried about radically liberal bills becoming policy, and if they do, well, at least I've got a forum in which to rant.

I trust that she will follow through on her rhetoric of working with Republicans, and that her deputies and committee chairmen do likewise. They certainly don't have to, but they should. She has said they will, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. I do not support some committee chairmen already named, like Barney Frank, Charlie Rangel and to a lesser degree John Conyers, but their committees are not their kingdoms. I only wish Pelosi would give the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee to the current-Ranking Member, Jane Harmon. She's earned the post, and is considered the most informed House Democrat on intelligence issues. She's also Pelosi's fellow Californian and replaced Pelosi on the committee when Pelosi became minority leader. We'll see what she does.

I am looking forward to the first 100 hours. Progress is good, and the Republicans had their chance, and squandered it. On to the next!

Update (11/13/06): Harman is out. From a Washington Post article, dated today:

Pelosi has also all but decided she will not name the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) to chair that panel next year, a decision pregnant with personal animus.

That is the only reference to Harman in the article. What a strange, dangling comment. Too bad Harman doesn't have the support of Pelosi; I liked her and thought she was a great ranking member, strong but not partisan. I wonder why Pelosi doesn't like her.