Yup.........It's finally settling into the Leftist Media that the
Democrats are Locked In A S-T-A-L-E-M-A-T-E........Ain't It A
HOOT?.........About ALL the Democrats can do is Scream &
WHINE.........Heehee.........
"Dems have tough time enacting changes
Sat Jun 2, 12:55 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - Under a portrait of George Washington and a sign
proclaiming "A New Direction," Democratic lawmakers boasted of their
accomplishments their first five months running Congress.
Their press release covered two pages.
Yet most people might be excused for hardly noticing, except maybe
those who are paid the minimum wage or who live in hurricane-ravaged
areas.
Beyond that, the majority party has found it difficult or impossible
to redirect federal policies, thwarted by a veto-wielding Republican
president whose congressional allies hold nearly half the Senate seats
and a significant portion of the House.
To the frustration of their liberal base, Democrats have been unable
to mandate a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. Nor have they
found a way to boost federal support for embryonic stem cell research,
rewrite tax and spending priorities or force the removal of an
embattled attorney general.
Their promises to reduce student loan rates, overhaul lobbying
practices and put in place recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission
are works in progress, at best.
They have largely abandoned their push to allow the government to
negotiate prescription drug prices for the Medicare program in the
face of Bush's opposition.
Democratic voters might be disappointed, but they should not be
surprised, say congressional scholars and political strategists. While
Democrats can set the legislative agenda and investigate the Bush
administration, they "don't have the power" to determine the results,
said Ronald Walters, a political scientist at the University of
Maryland.
"Democrats are in a negotiating framework consistently," Walters said.
"That's where they will be as long as the president has a veto pen."
Even the Democrats' most clear-cut legislative victory - raising the
minimum wage to $7.25 from the current $5.15 over three years - has
questionable impact.
Only a small fraction of workers earns the minimum wage, and Democrats
had to buy Republican support with $4.84 billion in new tax cuts for
small businesses."
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