Congress Grows a Spine

It would have been nice if Congress would have remembered that they are in fact a separate and equal branch of government while George W. Bush was able to do the most damage.  But they bent over backwards repeatedly to give Bush what he wanted.  Even the Democratic-led Congress of the past two years did this.

Now, it seems, as Barack Obama prepares to take office next week, Congress has discovered that they have some power.  Perhaps someone re-read (or read for the first time) the Constitution and noted that there’s a whole section dedicated to the Legislative Branch.  It’s a funny time for a Democratically controlled Congress to discover this all of a sudden, though.

I’m not suggesting all that Congress should play dead — as it has for nearly eight years — and give Obama everything he wants.  But then, I never would have suggested that Congress play dead and give Bush everything he wanted.  But they did, led by Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

So today I read a story in the San Francisco Chronicle that says that some Democrats are questioning Obama’s stimulus plan and trying to put restrictions on how he uses the remainder of the $700 billion TARP fund.  Why didn’t they put restrictions on how the Bush administration could use it?  Why didn’t they exercise their Constitutional oversight duties then?

Some excerpts from the linked article:

Even before Barack Obama is sworn in as president, some cracks are appearing in the alliance between the incoming administration and its Democratic allies in Congress.

Top lawmakers are questioning details of the president-elect’s nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus plan. And while Obama wants Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue program, House Democrats are insisting on voting on legislation this week setting restrictions on how his administration can use the money.

[snip]

“We are not potted plants,” California Sen. Barbara Boxer said Monday. “We are going to give our opinion.”

Interesting time to remember that, Senator.

The pushback from lawmakers also is part of an effort to reassert Congress’ clout as a co-equal branch of government after eight years of expanding executive power. When Democrats took back control of Congress in 2006, one of their winning arguments was that the Republican majority had failed to check the power of President Bush.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in an interview with the Hill newspaper, said Democrats will not make the same mistake. “If Obama steps over the bounds, I will tell him … I do not work for Barack Obama. I work with him,” Reid said.

Congress certainly did fail to check the power of President Bush.  It did so repeatedly, even after the 2006 elections.

No one is saying that Congress should be as they were with Bush — a supine, milquetoast waste of space, starting with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelois.  But let’s be real about where this country is now — two wars, an economic mess like many living have never seen.  Obama should continue to work with — not against — Congress as he can, but Congress needs to remember that they also need to work with Obama.

Obama has an electoral mandate to bring change to Washington, and to fix this economic mess.  Congress needs to remember that.