On The Legislative Front

There is more evidence that the answer to the question of "Is our Congress learning?" is yes. Frustrated by procedural obstructionism, the Democratic leadership plans to do some dirty work of their own to get important legislation passed:

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are hoping to ram through ethics legislation that has become an albatross for the new Congress. Instead of waiting for the traditional conference committee to create a compromise version of the bill, the Democrat leadership is expected to use parliamentary tactics to both block amendments and speed the bill to the Senate, where Reid is hoping that popular sentiment will sway enough lawmakers to ensure a filibuster-proof majority.

The Republicans will bitch and moan, but at some point you have to fight fire with fire, and this ethics reform has languished for too long. They've passed it through both houses of Congress and now the Republicans are BLOCKING THE CONFERENCE REPORT, so they really have left no choice.

Meanwhile, the pulled defense authorization bill has given way to an education bill, which seeks to markedly increase Pell grants and fix the ailing student loan program. The President has vowed to work with Congress on the bill (even though the first line says he'll veto it), and while we may not get the same numbers talked about here, it's possible that there will be some compromise worked out.

Meanwhile the Democrats are not backing down from the President's heartless and totally ideological resistance to re-authorizing and increasing funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). Republicans who have worked on this bill know that they will be destroyed electorally by voting against children's health, and they're signaling their opposition to the President (which for them is a win-win).

The chief Republican architects of a deal to expand a children’s health insurance program are defending the proposal against criticism by President Bush, who has threatened to “resist” it.

This week, members of the Senate Finance Committee tentatively agreed on a renewal and expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which covers about 6 million children from families that are low-income but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.

Bush sees the legislation as a backdoor move toward government-run health care, but committee Republicans Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and Pat Roberts of Kansas said in a July 11 letter to Bush that the issue that most concerns him — the use of SCHIP to cover adults — is partly his fault. Under Bush’s watch, the department of Health and Human Services has approved 12 waivers to states allowing SCHIP coverage of adults, records show, including a waiver issued May 24 allowing Wisconsin to cover parents earning up to twice the poverty level.

There may be enough votes to override this veto, and if not, the Democrats are playing hardball:

About 3.3 million additional children would be covered under the proposal developed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Republican Sens. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), among others. It would provide the program $60 billion over five years, compared with $30 billion under Bush's proposal. And it would rely on a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, to $1 a pack, which Bush opposes.

Grassley and Hatch, in a joint statement this week, implored the president to rescind his veto threat. They warned that Democrats might seek an expansion of $50 billion or more if there is no compromise.

Damn straight. Make these Republicans vote over and over again to protect their President and deny children health insurance. I can't think of a better bill on which to take a stand.

UPDATE: Much more on the education bill here.