First Of Many?
How long does it take a politician to break a campaign promise? Evidently they don't even have to be sworn in to do it.
Take the promise of implementing 'every recommendation of the 9/11 commission', heard ad nauseum by many of us who lived in close electoral districts. Well, that promise has already been promised to be broken.
Seems that the Democrats, like the GOP before them, have a hard time with the idea of the Appropriations, Defense and Ways and Means Committee chairman losing any power over anything.
One of the major recommendations of the 9/11 Commission was for the budgetary control of the intelligence community to be moved from the above three committees to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
It's not like this is some little item in the Commission's recommendations, it was a big item (From the Washington Post):
If, as was told to us too many times to count during the campaign season, Bush and the 109th Congress were playing political games with our security, how does ignoring the above make the Democrats any better?
This does of course lead me to wonder how many other recommendations of the Commission will also become too difficult to implement not because of cost, or time, but political expediency? We were promised a change in that attitude during the election, and instead seem to be getting more of the same, just from different mouths.
One of the major reasons for this not going anywhere, according to the Post article is that Speaker-To-Be Pelosi has already lost too much political capital over the Murtha Hoyer fight and the Harman-Hastings debacle to push a major reform such as this through. In a party full of fractured alliances and cobbled special interest quorums, Pelosi is going to have to figure out what is a good fight, and when one will just be wasting ammunition, otherwise she'll be in for a short, undistinguished career as Speaker.
Technorati Tags: Pelosi, Harman, Hoyer, Hastings, Murtha, Congress, Politics
Take the promise of implementing 'every recommendation of the 9/11 commission', heard ad nauseum by many of us who lived in close electoral districts. Well, that promise has already been promised to be broken.
Seems that the Democrats, like the GOP before them, have a hard time with the idea of the Appropriations, Defense and Ways and Means Committee chairman losing any power over anything.
One of the major recommendations of the 9/11 Commission was for the budgetary control of the intelligence community to be moved from the above three committees to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.
It's not like this is some little item in the Commission's recommendations, it was a big item (From the Washington Post):
"Of all our recommendations, strengthening congressional oversight may be among the most difficult and important," the panel wrote. "So long as oversight is governed by current congressional rules and resolutions, we believe the American people will not get the security they want and need."
If, as was told to us too many times to count during the campaign season, Bush and the 109th Congress were playing political games with our security, how does ignoring the above make the Democrats any better?
This does of course lead me to wonder how many other recommendations of the Commission will also become too difficult to implement not because of cost, or time, but political expediency? We were promised a change in that attitude during the election, and instead seem to be getting more of the same, just from different mouths.
One of the major reasons for this not going anywhere, according to the Post article is that Speaker-To-Be Pelosi has already lost too much political capital over the Murtha Hoyer fight and the Harman-Hastings debacle to push a major reform such as this through. In a party full of fractured alliances and cobbled special interest quorums, Pelosi is going to have to figure out what is a good fight, and when one will just be wasting ammunition, otherwise she'll be in for a short, undistinguished career as Speaker.
Technorati Tags: Pelosi, Harman, Hoyer, Hastings, Murtha, Congress, Politics
posted by Crazy Politico at 5:37 AM
1Comments:
Maybe we shouldn't worry so much about liberal campaign promises. They are no better at keeping their promises than the GOP is.
Actually we should be vigilant less they actually try to do something dangerous.
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