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Echoes of 1995 for new Congress
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| Contributor | Jason |
| Last Edited | Jason Jan 05, 2011 08:42pm |
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| Category | General |
| News Date | Thursday, January 6, 2011 02:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Call it 1995 Lite: a one — rather than two — chamber Republican takeover this time, and no Newt Gingrich, just a lot of little would-be Gingriches running around accusing the White House of corruption or threatening to push the Treasury into default.
Every new Congress is a time for renewal and hope, and Wednesday’s ceremonies brought fresh blood to a stagnant Senate and elevated a working-class bar owner’s son to the speakership of the House. But there is also a sense of having seen this play before, just as the new fashion of reading the Constitution aloud brought echoes of Gingrich adding the Pledge of Allegiance to the daily prayer for lawmakers.
In the 16 years since, the biggest real change may be that the nation’s problems have gotten so great that both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue find it easier to retreat into their illusions.
How else to explain President Barack Obama claiming victory in the recent lame-duck session when he surrendered tens of billions of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthiest estates, committed $85 billion more to modernize nuclear weapons and then failed to fight for a $224 million increase in training programs for the physicians and nurses he will need to implement health care reform. |
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