A Fresh Ill Wind a' Blowin' (Part 1)

So today's the day a fresh ill wind blows in Washington. Or fresh AND ill. First the fresh part.

The new Congress is set to begin today, with the Democrats holding on by the skin of Tim Johnson's teeth to both houses. And there are some refreshingly decent, proactive bits of legislative business likely to come out of the House of Representatives soon -- even if it'll take longer than those famous "first 100 hours" of Nancy Pelosi.

There are six main bills that House Democrats are likely to push as they attempt not to fumble the initiative the voters handed them. From uncontroversial to mildly confrontational, they are:

1. Allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices on behalf of seniors. This will pass and Bush will sign it.

2. Lower the interest rates on federal student loans. The Dems are looking to cut the rate in half, from 6.8% to 3.4%. Another done deal like prescription drug reform, but as for the future of social spending, take ominous note that for the first time in his administration's storied career of squandering money and running up an unprecedsented budget deficit, El Presidente yesterday started "challenging" the Democrats to "work with him" to balance the budget in the next 5 years -- funny how all he did when his own party was in power was cut taxes and spend spend spend.

3. Raise the minimum wage from the level of poverty hell to the level of poverty purgatory ($7.25 an hour is the target, try living on that my friend). This also will wind up with so many loopholes attached for so many typres of businesses that it's pretty much political window dressing. Cue the crocodile tears: "Sops for the poor! Sops for the poor!"

4. Approve the 9/11 Commission's recommendations on homeland security. This is the kind of political cudgel the Donkeys can use to make the Elephants look unpatriotic and incompetent. That's mainly because the 9/11 Commission somehow escaped critical scrutiny and almost instantly came to be seen as some sort of above-the-political-fray panel of Olympians issuing high-minded, omniscient edicts like thunderbolts. (It's funny how in a democracy, it's always the unelected who are perceived as best representing the interests of the people -- but that's an inversion best left for another post). Everyone will be shamed into passing this and Bush will look like even more of a dick than he already does if he resists it -- but be on the lookout for President A-Hole to attach another of his famous "Signing Statements," which basically boil down to him saying "I signed this because I had no choice politically but I reserve the right to construe from the words herein the exact opposite meaning."

5. Allow research on stem cells. The Martyr Bush, true to his intellectually blighted love affair with Jeebus, will certainly veto this, and in a bracing return to modernity, Congress will likely override his Crusade. Welcome back to the 21st century, y'all.

6. Tax oil company profits and use the revenues to fund research and development of alternative energy sources. Unsurprisingly, this most vital and intelligent policy initiative will be the hardest to push through. Every oily politician on Capitol Hill will be sneaking through the backdoor to attach riders, formulate loopholes, and generally hang the process. Whatever Frankensteinian form the bill ultimately takes, there's still little chance President Halliburton will sign it.

If all but item 6 seem pandery and mild, the entire package of initiatives still feels refreshing -- if only by comparison to the draconian wasteland of legislative cynicism that has stretched Sahara-like across the past 6 years.

But thhere's still plenty of noxious nastiness in the air, too....