This could be the worst time in all its history to be a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
More than half of the House\u2019s time is spent \u2013 wasted \u2013 not on the substance of issues but on wrangling about procedural matters, said Democratic Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham, speaking last week to a hometown audience of supporters.\u00a0\u00a0 Very little real work is getting done, and summer recess is coming up soon.<\/p>\n
Like every other member of the U.S. House, Grisham will be home this summer campaigning for re-election \u2013 as will New Mexico\u2019s other members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Ben Ray Lujan and Republican Steve Pearce.\u00a0 The Washington pundits have ranked all of New Mexico\u2019s districts as safe seats with the incumbents highly favored to win re-election.\u00a0 But Grisham takes nothing for granted.\u00a0 Because of national interest in our governor\u2019s race, she\u2019s assuming the state will be bombarded with big national Republican money.<\/p>\n
Calling Grisham a bundle of energy is probably clich\u00e9 by now.\u00a0 It\u2019s an apt description for a woman who is short, bouncy and so energetic she could be speaking from a trampoline.\u00a0 I can imagine her striding down hallways in the Capitol and cornering adversarial members twice her size.<\/p>\n
She explains the term \u201cregular order.\u201d\u00a0 It means the normal rules of procedure under which bills are supposed to be debated and voted upon.\u00a0 The House is not doing anything under regular order these days, she says.\u00a0 All bills are processed under special orders.\u00a0 Only Republican bills get to the floor for a vote, and once they reach the floor, no\u00a0 amendments are allowed.\u00a0 There is no debate.<\/p>\n
No debate means Republicans can\u2019t debate their colleagues\u2019 bills either.\u00a0 They have to be in lock step all the time, which means individual thought is stifled, or \u2013 just as sinister \u2013 that amendments have to be worked out by private back room dealmaking. \u00a0Americans have spent a century fighting for open debate of legislation, but the old smoke-filled rooms are back.<\/p>\n
Grisham describes the latest shenanigan, a vote held a few days ago. With almost no warning and very few members on the floor, the Speaker suspended the rules, called for an immediate voice vote and pronounced the bill passed.\u00a0 That was how the House passed the so-called \u201cDoc Fix.\u201d \u00a0Every year this postpones the effect of a law that would make drastic cuts in doctors\u2019 reimbursements under Medicare.\u00a0 It\u2019s what Congress does because it can\u2019t agree on a permanent solution.\u00a0 It\u2019s done by a trick because it couldn\u2019t be passed by regular order.<\/p>\n
Grisham points to two sources for optimism. \u00a0The first is women members of the House.\u00a0 She says the female members of both parties got together and worked out a compromise to end the recent federal government shutdown.<\/p>\n
The second reason for optimism is her fellow Congressional freshmen.\u00a0 Grisham says the newest members are frustrated with the stalemate, meeting together and finding common ground.\u00a0 She expects several bipartisan jobs bills to be rolled out later this year.<\/p>\n
I hope she\u2019s right.\u00a0 Right now America is ungovernable.\u00a0 That is unfathomably scary.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been said recently that you can\u2019t expect Congress to get anything done in an election year.\u00a0 That\u2019s every other year.\u00a0 And you can\u2019t expect Congress to get anything done in a non-election year because the next year will be an election year.\u00a0 And you can\u2019t expect Congress to get anything done in the second term of a President or the last two years of the first term of a President. What\u2019s left?<\/p>\n
When Grisham first ran for Congress, I hoped that if she won, she\u2019d make use of her in-depth understanding of health care issues.\u00a0 She can\u2019t do that \u2013 and neither can all the other members who arrived in Washington with expertise and energy \u2013 until the insane and self-destructive gridlock is broken.\u00a0 I hope her optimism is justified.<\/p>\n
Triple Spaced Again, \u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2014<\/p>\n
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This could be the worst time in all its history to be a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. More than half of the House\u2019s time is spent \u2013 wasted \u2013 not on the substance of issues but on … Continue reading