And when the dust of the November 8 election had settled, two things became clear: 1) the Blue Crew loses control of the House in January and 2) the House is still blue until then. Back in September, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told his members to prepare to be “extremely busy” in the lame duck session. So many bills and so little time.
The mighty ducks began with marriage equality, which is great. But what next? They could codify Roe or end the filibuster, if they had the votes. But this is not likely.
The Washington Post editorial board has 4 fine suggestions 1) deal with the debt ceiling to “end the dangerous game of debt limit chicken;” 2) support Ukraine against Russian aggression; 3) reform the Electoral Vote Count Act to make presidential elections harder to steal; and 4) keep it real (don’t try to pass stuff if you don’t have the votes).
Michael Moore offered his 8 suggestions in this thought-provoking podcast: Rumble Episode 259. He emphasizes that the Democrats should take thought to legislation that people will feel in their day-to-day lives so that they will have a reason to vote blue next time. He gives as examples extending the Child Tax Credit that lifted so many families with children out of poverty, and expanding Medicare to cover hearing, dental, and eyeglasses.
For my personal wish list, I begin with the debt ceiling which, in Republican hands, is a weapon of mass destruction. They have already threatened to use the debt ceiling to force a Democratic President to sign off on painful cuts to Social Security and Medicare. There is no end to the mischief they can do with that weapon. Disarm them. Then on to Electoral Vote Count Reform which, in some form, already has at least some bipartisan support. And the Senate should quickly confirm as many non-Federalist Society judges as possible. If time permits, we should certainly extend the Child Tax Credit and support Ukraine and do something about Voting Rights and…. and… Oh, well, maybe the WaPo is right. We should keep it real. Sigh!
But our Electeds in Washington need to DO SOMETHING!
Say “Bah Humbug!” to the holidays and STAY IN SESSION!
I encourage you to share your Lame Duck wish list with Representative (and Mayor-Elect) Karen Bass at (202) 225-7084 or email at https://bass.house.gov/contact/email, Senator Alex Padilla at (202) 224 3553 or email, and Senator Dianne Feinstein at (202) 224-3841 or email at https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me.