“Passing a tax bill that makes the president look good — mailing out checks before the election — which means he could be re-elected, and then we won’t extend the 2017 tax cuts.” Senator Chuck Grassley, (R), Iowa, concerning a bi-partisan bill, approved in the House of Representatives by a vote of 357 to 70, that would provide tax breaks for businesses and low-income families.
“A lot of people do call me, they respect [me] and say, ‘What do you think’? If the bill is not going to be a great bill and really solve the problem, I wouldn’t do it at all.” Donald Trump, speaking in reference to his efforts to kill bi-partisan legislation which would implement reform in the management of immigration issues.
In the highly charged political atmosphere that permeates Washington these days, senators and members of the House from both sides of the aisle have been working hard to pass legislation that deals with some critical issues facing this country. That is the definition of governing, which is what we send senators and representatives to do. However, most Republican members of Congress are more interested in scoring political points that might get them on Fox News than in getting things done. Legislating takes a back seat to performance art, playing to the base.
As to proposed tax bill, Republicans such as the 90-year-old Grassley are prepared to ignore the actual legislation. According to NBC, the Republican-controlled House Ways and Means Committee stated last week that under the legislation, the Biden administration would be “explicitly prohibited” from “manipulating the bill’s tax relief in an attempt to send politically timed refund checks.” The bill expands the child tax credit and reinstates business deductions that were rescinded during the Trump administration.
The immigration bill is another example of the Republicans putting politics ahead of governing. The bipartisan deal would sanction tougher border policies while providing another round of funding for Ukraine. Republicans seem to favor Vladimir Putin over the brave people of Ukraine who are fighting to retain their freedom. Aid to Israel also hangs in the balance. One of the leaders of congressional efforts to approve the immigration legislation is Senator James Lankford, a conservative Republican from Oklahoma. For his efforts he was condemned and censured by his state’s party, an action its chairman later said was illegitimate. The national Border Patrol union, which endorsed Trump in 2020, supports the Senate bill.
In 1947 President Harry Truman faced a Republican-controlled Congress which opposed many programs that he proposed. In an address to Congress he pleaded for bipartisan support for his plans. “On some domestic issues we may, and probably shall, disagree,” Truman said. “That in itself is not to be feared. It is inherent in our form of government. But there are ways of disagreeing; men who differ can still work together sincerely for the common good. We shall be risking the Nation’s safety and destroying our opportunities for progress if we do not settle any disagreements in this spirit, without thought of partisan advantage.”
In the 1948 election Truman took his case to the people, labeling the Republicans as the “Do Nothing Congress” for their efforts to put politics over governing. In that election not only did Truman defeat Thomas Dewey, but Democrats gained back nine Senate seats and seventy-five seats in the House, taking control of both chambers.
The work of current Republican members of Congress to torpedo efforts dealing with key issues in this country is an echo of 1948. The public will be the judge, but the public is not much interested in the performance art activities of senators and House members. It makes for a rerun of the “Do Nothing Congress” label that Truman attached to Republicans many years ago.
The tone for all this nothingness in the current Congress was set in January 2023 with the fiasco involving the selection of a Speaker of the House of Representatives. The show continued throughout the year and reared its ugly head again in the fall when Republicans ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy and then went through a speaker-rama series of actions, eventually settling on Mike Johnson. Johnson now finds himself in the same predicament that befell McCarthy. The year is still young. We could see another speaker or two before 2025.
None of these developments are good for the country. Only the voters next November can set things straight.
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