Lag Time and Politics

A lot has happened since I last blogged, most notably, the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress. They have pledged a lot a action in their first 100 hours of legislative time and got things off to a big start by taking the day off for the NCAA National Championship game. Business as usual? I'm not sure, but it doesn't bode well.

I am happy (on the surface) that their has been a changing of the guard in our legislative branch. There are two big problems, however, that I don't think the Democrats will be able to overcome:

1. Democrats lack of audacity (aka "balls). The Democrats suffer from "over think syndrome." They talk and talk, but lack decisiveness in their actions, leading to a fragmentation that kept them out of the majority for the past 12 years. We owe this changing of the guard more to President Bush's failures than the Democrats' successes.

2. Power corrupts. Everytime a minority takes the majority, there are always promises of ethics reforms and shouts that the party taking control will "clean up" Congress. The Republicans set themselves up 12 years ago as the moral authority. They promised to deliver us from the moral scourge that was the Democrat party. 12 years and many Republican scandals later, the Dems are saying the same thing. The problem is not party related. It's money and power related. the lobbies and corporate benefactors court the party in power very heavily. When the money and favors start flowing, it's hard for any politician, regardless of party, to say no. Being the majority party in Congress really means only one thing: it's just a matter of time before the scandals surface.

I hope they prove me wrong, but I really don't think so. The other shoe will drop; it's just a matter of time.