Try Something Hard: Governing

[dtotire]

Published: November 13, 2010



Many Americans who voted this fall expressed a deep mistrust of government. House Republicans’ triumphalist vows to tie up the Obama administration with nonstop investigations and obstructionist budget crimping are not going to allay those voters’ concerns — or solve any of the country’s problems.


“I want seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks,” exulted Representative Darrell Issa, who is in line to take the gavel of the House government oversight committee.

Mr. Issa told Politico he would be evenhanded and focused on substance. But it is hard to square that with his hand-tipping campaign claim that President Obama is “one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times.” He only half-apologized later, insisting the president routinely abuses the executive budget with “corrupt” political paybacks.

This combativeness from the new House majority is an early symptom of its preference for politicking over the tougher job of governing in hard times. Its plans already feature the low cunning of snipping budget lines so the Internal Revenue Service cannot enforce key provisions of the health care reform law. (Why not defund Postal Service document deliverers while they’re at it?)

The new majority will showcase hearings devoted to what Representative Fred Upton, the ranking Republican on the energy committee, called a “war on the regulatory state.” What he means by that is the Environmental Protection Agency’s daring to accept scientific evidence that human activity is driving global warming. Similar hearings, rooted in the vindictive rhetoric of the 2010 campaign, are likely for the new consumer protection bureau, immigration enforcement, and more.

Inevitably, the White House is reported ready to add a platoon of lawyers to defend against the kind of endless harassment the Clinton administration suffered in the last Republican ascendancy. Surely Republican leaders must know that their past Inspector Javert binge helped snuff out their majority, even though it was abetted by President Clinton’s personal misbehavior.

So far, however, there are too many signs that Republicans relish tooth-and-claw politicking from within government as the easy alternative to the actual labor of governing. Their mantra remains set on the politics signaled by the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Profiles of the incoming Republican freshmen are not encouraging. Half deny the science of global warming, and 39 percent signed on to the know-nothing move to end birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, according to the Center for American Progress, a liberal research organization.

In principle, Congress’s oversight of the executive branch can be a vital necessity. Politically, however, both parties push its limits from time to time. Now is no time for myriad searches for sensational distractions when the nation’s voters cry out for solid progress.

more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/opinion/14sun1.html?ref=opinion