Trying To Do It Right.



Trying To Do It Right.  A couple of kudos go out the House this week and one big raspberry to the Senate.  While the Senate continues to bicker about nuclear options, hold meaningless, bi-partisan press conferences on the steps outside that create enough hot air to launch a dirigible, and of course, continues to pass legislation in massive bundles with large ideas and very little substance, the House has made a common sense move to how farm bill and food stamp law is passed and has continued their process of rational and reasoned immigration reform

First, let us address the nuclear option.  It is nothing short of hilarious to see Reid make such a plea for the nuclear option when not that long ago, he was so adamantly opposed to it.  Likewise, what was once a great idea for McConnell is now a move that would wreck the Senate?  Bloviating aside, the plain and simple fact is that no legislation should pass the Senate with a party-line majority of only 51 votes.  If the majority party cannot get at least a handful of the opposition party to support a bill, it should not be passed.  This nuclear garbage is the kind of idiotic thinking that brought us Obamacare.  Can we learn nothing?

Now let’s jump over to the House.  The House has moved and passed 4 separate pieces of legislation dealing with immigration reform.  They are now considering, not with a “gang of ???” but with the proper Committee chair, a bill to deal with young illegal immigrants who were born and raised in this country.  Whether or not we agree with the substance of the legislation, this is the way to make law.  You take a bite that you can reasonably chew, you take sufficient time to chew it, and then you swallow.  The only reservation I have about Mr. Boehner and Mr. Cantor in this particular process is how much input came from the House Democrats.  I don’t think any of the 4 bills passed on a party-line vote, but I am not sure that very many Dems had a real opportunity to influence the content prior to the bill coming to the floor.  In the area of farm bill and food stamp law, the House made the common sense decision to split the combined bill for both into two separate bills.  Even though both areas are under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture Department, they are clearly programs of interest to two distinct demographics; urban versus rural.  They need to be split and be addressed separately to eliminate the unholy tradeoffs that have been occurring between the two factions for decades.  Examine each on its own merit and try to pass a good farm bill and a good food stamp bill.  

The point is that regardless of the rancor and venom that is being spewed on Capitol Hill these days, the House is demonstrating, at least in these areas, that they know how to legislate.  It is yet to be determined if they know how to legislate wisely.