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WaPo: Can the Democrats Deliver?
Robert J SamuelsonAmong Washington lobbyists, policy analysts, congressional staffers and journalists, the game last week was to figure out how the Democrats' capture of Congress will refashion legislative agendas. One answer is that we won't know until the leadership sets its political strategy, canvasses its members and consults interest groups. Another answer is: Temper your expectations. Even forgetting possible vetoes by President Bush, the Democrats have less leeway to alter policy than their rhetoric implies. Although Democrats didn't promise much -- they benefited heavily from unhappiness with the war in Iraq -- they still succumbed to exaggeration. Their sound bites ran ahead of plausible solutions. Consider three familiar themes. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy; inaction on the minimum wage; and Republican opposition to negotiating Medicare drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies. All are of a piece: The Republicans are lackeys for the wealthy business class; they don't care much about the poor. But what can the Democrats do? Let's see. Posted by: .com 2006-11-16 |
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