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Sunday, August 26, 2007

From Doing Nothing to Saying "No"

The first session of the 110th Congress was so much more active than the GOP's do-nothing 109th Congress, as House members went back to actually working for a living, under new requirements that have them 'at the office' four days a week (or more), instead of the GOP's lolly-gagging three days.

Obstructionism raised to artform, gee thanks, Trent Lott

There are few in-depth analyses that I've seen on how the session faired, under the new GOP obstructionism.

At an astounding pace, the blogosphere continues to develop a decentralized 'institutional memory' that promises to bring increasing accountability to government. Those adding "kill" amendments, etc., will probably get increased "news" coverage.

Among the most egregious was the continued inability to move toward transparency in finance (including earmarks). The DSCC notes:

As the Kentucky Courier-Journal writes:

Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning combined efforts to block passage, by unanimous consent, of S.223, which would promote up-front politics by requiring that senators file their campaign finance reports electronically. That way voters could get the information they need more quickly and more easily.

The Sunlight Foundation complained about behind-the-scenes maneuvers by the two Kentuckians against this broadly supported legislation. The group condemned the "holds" that have been placed anonymously, by members who don't want voters to know they prefer to operate in secret:

"These demands show that, no matter who is objecting to the bill now, McConnell and Bunning will ensure that whenever this bill comes up for unanimous consent, some 'anonymous' senator will raise an objection."

Failed Legislation, from Wikipedia:

(In alphabetical order)