Kill the Lame Duck

As yet another lame duck session of Congress comes to an end, we once again witness firsthand why these sessions should never take place. Having suffered a decisive defeat in the mid-term elections, the Democrats have used this session to ram through every last piece of Obama's high-priority, politically charged legislation that they can. The DREAM Act, the spending bill, the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the START treaty...isn't it amazing how so many bills have been introduced in such a short period of time?

To me, allowing politicians who have been defeated to return to Congress and pass legislation is akin to allowing convicted criminals to run free in society and commit a few more crimes before they are imprisoned. It can only result in more harm and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The lame duck session creates opportunities for outgoing congressmen to turn against the voters and perform any last minute, self-serving acts that they possibly can before their time is up. It's sad, really. They may sell their votes in exchange for a job at a government agency, or simply vote for or against a certain bill just to spite the people who voted them out.

It's time to kill the lame duck sessions in Congress once and for all. The current economic climate makes it impossible for us to afford them, both literally and figuratively. For example, take the fact that this congress started off by passing an $814 billion stimulus bill. It was supposed to stimulate the economy, create jobs, and pull us out of the recession. Did it accomplish what it was supposed to accomplish? No. What did it do? Well, it blew up the federal budget and added to our ridiculously enormous deficit. Nice going, Capitol Hill. No wonder the approval ratings for the current congress are the lowest we've ever seen them in our lifetime.

Now, fast forward to the current lame duck session. After failing miserably with the $814 billion stimulus bill and receiving a clear message from American voters this past November to cut spending, what does this lame duck congress attempt to do? They do everything they possibly can to pass a $1.2 trillion omnibus spending bill, loaded with over 6,000 earmarks that would cost taxpayers over $8 billion. How is this even possible? Could they be so tone deaf that they did not hear the message of the American people on November 2nd? I doubt it. It is my firm belief that those who supported this bill were looking out for themselves and could care less about what the voters had to say. But that's what happens when you have a lame duck session. Those who were voted out have nothing more to lose, so why should they care about whatever message the voters may have sent them on Election Day?

Thanks be to God that the spending bill was defeated. Harry Reid thought he had secured enough Republican votes to ram it through, but common sense prevailed in the end and those GOP senators decided to back off. This forced Prince Harry to give a concession speech on the Senate floor, one in which he lamented over how those Republicans who said they would support the bill withdrew their support at the last minute. Aww, poor baby. I feel so bad for you, Mr. Reid. It's just so unfair that you should suffer such betrayal. I mean, it's not as if you're betraying the American people by continuing to mortgage our children's future in the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Not to digress, but lame duck congressman aren't the only problem we have in these sessions. Senators like Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer, who never met an entitlement program they didn't want to marry, make the situation far worse. Unexplicably, the people of California and Nevada continue to elect them despite the dire economic situation in both of those states. There are plenty of others who fall into this category, and the fact that they deem themselves invincible gives them the nerve to continue to fly right in the face of American voters. Why should they back off from their own agenda when they're so entrenched that they would have to literally commit murder in order to suffer an Election Day defeat?

So now, Democrats can pat themselves on the back for repealing DADT, passing the START treaty, and fulfilling Obama's request to approve the tax cut deal. They did fail in passing the omnibus spending bill and the DREAM Act, but overall you'd have to think that the President views the lame duck session as an overall success for his radical agenda. As Christmas Day approaches and Congress gets ready to adjourn, I only pray that they close up shop before they can do any more damage. For me, the GOP victories in the mid-term elections were the greatest Christmas gift I ever could have received. I just can't wait until the gifts are unwrapped in January, when the new session of Congress begins. May their New Year's resolution be to listen to the message that voters sent them on November 2nd and get our country back on the right track.