A Mad Final Dash

It's been like cutting ice, but on a couple fronts, the Democratic Congress has finally broken through the Republican roadblock on a couple major issues, and I hope they can now break the media filter and explain this to the American people.

The bill incorporating most of the 9/11 Commission recommendations have been sent to the President with veto-proof majorities. The bill includes some border security measures to get Republican votes, meaning that this will be the end of illegal immigration!... or at least the continuation of immigrants overstaying tourist visas, which is how most of them arrive in this country anyway.

This bill actually fulfills a Kerry campaign promise, mandating screening of all cargo at the ports, which the White House is of course resisting, because they're not interested in passing security. But they got Congress to remove language allowing TSA personnel to collectively bargain, so I guess they figured they screwed the working man enough to allow them to sign it. And overall, the bill does represent progress.

Also, the House passed a raft of bills aimed at helping veterans returning from Iraq. The Senate passed a veterans health care bill last week, so this may see passage. Of course, many of the recommendations of the Dole-Shalala Commission need to be implemented by the executive branch, meaning that they won't.

There should be some other initiatives passed this week before the August recess (the Iraqi Parliament is just practicing American-style democracy!), so we'll see how it shakes out.