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EDITORIAL: Shoot the lame duck--Defeated lawmakers shouldn't get one last spending spree
The Washington times ^ | August 13, 2010 | Editorial

Posted on 08/13/2010 7:28:52 PM PDT by jazusamo

The House last week took about seven hours out of its customary August recess to come back and pass the $26 billion union bailout bill. The unusual session confirmed the well-known principle that the republic is most imperiled while Congress is in town. That's why Rep. Tom Price, Georgia Republican, is on the right track with his resolution that would restrain federal lawmakers from meeting after the November elections until the new representatives take the oath of office in January.

Election-year lame-duck sessions of Congress have plagued the nation for generations. Eighty years ago, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch complained about such meetings, saying, "Here will assemble all manner of members, to make laws for voters who have repudiated them and all their works." A similar concern motivates Republicans like Mr. Price, who see significant electoral gains on the horizon. If the latest Real Clear Politics polling averages hold true, the Grand Old Party will pick up six Senate seats and at least 26 House seats, with ultimate control of the body resting on another 32 races where the outcome remains too close to call.

Should voters decide to hand control of the House back to the GOP, it makes little sense to provide the old guard with one last opportunity to ram through rejected policies. Opposition to this state of affairs is more than a contemporary partisan concern...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 111th; lameducksession
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1 posted on 08/13/2010 7:28:53 PM PDT by jazusamo
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To: jazusamo

Before modern means of travel, I wonder if it was impractical to convene a lame duck Congress, and if that’s why the authors of the Constitution did not worry about it.


2 posted on 08/13/2010 7:33:58 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
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To: HiTech RedNeck

I’d say that’s exactly it, the session was strictly for a national emergency.


3 posted on 08/13/2010 7:40:46 PM PDT by jazusamo (But there really is no free lunch, except in the world of political rhetoric,.: Thomas Sowell)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

It was no threat because the majority seldom consisted of zealots. The question is: if the Dim take a thumping in November, will the more moderate ones let Plelosi get away with a coup de main?


4 posted on 08/13/2010 7:43:30 PM PDT by RobbyS (Pray with the suffering souls.)
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To: jazusamo

And could the forefathers have envisioned a political system filled with juvenile spite?


5 posted on 08/13/2010 7:48:03 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
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To: jazusamo
"Shoot the lame duck"

Uh... what is this editorial suggesting??

6 posted on 08/13/2010 8:03:59 PM PDT by DTogo (High time to bring back the Sons of Liberty !!)
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To: jazusamo

Republicans wont do it and the dems sure wont control themselves...I doubt there is one person in DC that cares about this country


7 posted on 08/13/2010 8:20:34 PM PDT by dalebert
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To: HiTech RedNeck

The Lame Duck Session seems to have earned its reputation from that oversight. One would guess that the powerful original states could scurry back down to DC quickly and make a quorum before the coaches rolled in from the west or the south.


8 posted on 08/13/2010 8:52:10 PM PDT by One Name
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To: DTogo

I just got my Federal stamp for duck hunting.....take it or leave it how you want ! :)


9 posted on 08/13/2010 8:57:38 PM PDT by TheRevolution1776
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To: jazusamo

Are there any Republican states that can do the “seat the new Congressman immediately” routine like they did for a couple of people in various special elections since 2008?


10 posted on 08/13/2010 9:52:00 PM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: RobbyS
The question is: if the Dim take a thumping in November, will the more moderate ones let Plelosi get away with a coup de main?

Short answer: yes!

11 posted on 08/14/2010 6:48:38 AM PDT by libertylover (The problem with Obama is not that his skin is too black, it's that his ideas are too RED.)
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To: libertylover

I fear you might be right, especially if a goodly number of them lose their seats. That would be their parting shot and —sad to say-one that might hit home. I am pessimistic that the Republican leadership is up to the task of waging war. Do you know of any of the leadership who has NERVE? Cohen has the brains, but I don’t see the steel.


12 posted on 08/14/2010 10:18:50 AM PDT by RobbyS (Pray with the suffering souls.)
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To: RobbyS; dalebert
I am pessimistic that the Republican leadership is up to the task of waging war. Do you know of any of the leadership who has NERVE? Cohen has the brains, but I don’t see the steel.

There are a number of good conservative Republicans in D.C. You never hear about them because the ruling Democrats won't recognize them and the media want give them voice.

Joe Price who is mentioned here is the one who called Obama a liar during the State of the Union Address. Just off the top of my head, and there are many more, both Senators from Texas, Cornyn and Hutchison, qualify, as well as Congressmen Hensarling, John Carter and Sam Johnson of Texas. Then there are Pence, Bachmann, Boehner, Ryan, DeMint, Coburn and Inhoffe from Okla., Brownback, Bunning, Kyl, Jeff Sessions, Pete Sessions, McConnel, Thune, Shelby, Bono, Linder, Burton, Granger, Cantor, Sensenbrenner, and more I can't think of.

You guys are too down on conservatives. It is not an even playing field. The Democrats have the President, a veto-proof Congress and all the media on their side. It is hard for our side to even get heard, mush less have any power.

13 posted on 08/14/2010 11:28:31 AM PDT by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done needs to be done by the government)
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To: Mind-numbed Robot

I didnt say i was down on conservatives...I said Republicans..there is a big difference


14 posted on 08/14/2010 12:36:41 PM PDT by dalebert
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To: Mind-numbed Robot

I didnt say i was down on conservatives...I said Republicans..there is a big difference


15 posted on 08/14/2010 12:36:56 PM PDT by dalebert
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To: Mind-numbed Robot

I heard Ryan speak here in Dallas, Most impressive.


16 posted on 08/14/2010 2:47:01 PM PDT by RobbyS (Pray with the suffering souls.)
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To: dalebert

The party is divided. Always there are the “moderates,” the Jerry Ford Republicans—who have much the same mindset as the moderate Democrats.


17 posted on 08/14/2010 2:49:06 PM PDT by RobbyS (Pray with the suffering souls.)
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To: dalebert
I didnt say i was down on conservatives...I said Republicans..there is a big difference

I was responding to your comment that you did not think there was a single person in Washington who cared about this country. Did you say that?

Just to refresh your mind

I doubt there is one person in DC that cares about this country

I listed a number of people who I think care about this country and they are all conservative Republicans.

I think you and others sometimes get frustrated and strike out at our friends who are working hard for the things you want. When you don't have your facts straight you run the risk of doing more harm than good.

18 posted on 08/15/2010 8:21:24 AM PDT by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done needs to be done by the government)
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To: Mind-numbed Robot

I said it..they are all out for themselves in one way or another.


19 posted on 08/15/2010 8:22:28 AM PDT by dalebert
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To: dalebert
I said it..they are all out for themselves in one way or another.

That is true but it amounts to a non-statement. We are all "out for ourselves in one way or another." You have gone from complaining to blathering.

We have a lot of good conservatives in Washington and we are about to have more. Cheer up.

20 posted on 08/15/2010 9:27:19 AM PDT by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done needs to be done by the government)
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