New York Times Editorial - U.S. lawmaking undermined
New York Times Editorial - U.S. lawmaking undermined
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: August 1, 2006
Elected officials presume that voters will judge them by their voting records, not on the behind-the-scenes dealing that actually creates legislation. But in the U.S. Congress, things have become so unhinged and outrageous lately that attention must be paid.
At the center of recent evildoing was a conference committee in which House and Senate negotiators were supposed to create a final version of their differing pension reform bills. But by the time the House left for summer break last week, there was no final version, and the process was in a shambles.
First, Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, wanted to tack a drastic reduction in the estate tax onto the pension bill. The estate tax has been an obsession with Republican leaders this year - particularly ones like Frist who fancy themselves future presidential candidates.
Protecting the pensions of working Americans, of course, has nothing in common with slicing the taxes of ultra-rich American families. But that never stopped anyone in an election year.
When his Senate negotiators nixed the estate tax idea, Frist kept looking for a way to get it on the agenda. In a move that undercut his own team, he worked with the head of the House tax committee, Representative Bill Thomas, to link the estate tax cut to the extension of some popular and useful tax breaks, like the tax credit for corporate research. Early Saturday, the House passed a bill that did just that, throwing in an increase in the minimum wage and other unrelated issues as well.
Meanwhile, back at the pension discussions, John Boehner, the House majority leader, emboldened by Frist's disregard of his negotiators, decided to boycott the talks altogether and urged other House Republicans to do the same. Boehner had long complicated the negotiations with his stubborn promotion of special-interest causes. Once the negotiations were derailed, the House came up with a new pension bill and sent it to the Senate with take-it-or-leave-it disdain.
The idea of tying modest wage increases for the lowest-paid workers to an enormous reduction on taxes that fall on America's richest heirs is, of course, obscene. Beyond that, Frist is said to be toying with the idea of blocking any attempts by fellow senators to amend the pension bill, in that way playing the enabler in the House's plan to force its unilateral version of the pension bill on the Senate.
The end result is a two-for-one bad deal for America: poor policy poorly produced and the legislative process undermined.
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: August 1, 2006
Elected officials presume that voters will judge them by their voting records, not on the behind-the-scenes dealing that actually creates legislation. But in the U.S. Congress, things have become so unhinged and outrageous lately that attention must be paid.
At the center of recent evildoing was a conference committee in which House and Senate negotiators were supposed to create a final version of their differing pension reform bills. But by the time the House left for summer break last week, there was no final version, and the process was in a shambles.
First, Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, wanted to tack a drastic reduction in the estate tax onto the pension bill. The estate tax has been an obsession with Republican leaders this year - particularly ones like Frist who fancy themselves future presidential candidates.
Protecting the pensions of working Americans, of course, has nothing in common with slicing the taxes of ultra-rich American families. But that never stopped anyone in an election year.
When his Senate negotiators nixed the estate tax idea, Frist kept looking for a way to get it on the agenda. In a move that undercut his own team, he worked with the head of the House tax committee, Representative Bill Thomas, to link the estate tax cut to the extension of some popular and useful tax breaks, like the tax credit for corporate research. Early Saturday, the House passed a bill that did just that, throwing in an increase in the minimum wage and other unrelated issues as well.
Meanwhile, back at the pension discussions, John Boehner, the House majority leader, emboldened by Frist's disregard of his negotiators, decided to boycott the talks altogether and urged other House Republicans to do the same. Boehner had long complicated the negotiations with his stubborn promotion of special-interest causes. Once the negotiations were derailed, the House came up with a new pension bill and sent it to the Senate with take-it-or-leave-it disdain.
The idea of tying modest wage increases for the lowest-paid workers to an enormous reduction on taxes that fall on America's richest heirs is, of course, obscene. Beyond that, Frist is said to be toying with the idea of blocking any attempts by fellow senators to amend the pension bill, in that way playing the enabler in the House's plan to force its unilateral version of the pension bill on the Senate.
The end result is a two-for-one bad deal for America: poor policy poorly produced and the legislative process undermined.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 11:33 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home