Position of Strength
Not much has gotten through this Congress…for those of us who believe less is more, or at least “less” means fewer ways for them to mess with our lives, that’s a good thing.
There’s only been a one or two vote GOP majority in the House for most of the term, while there are actually more Republicans than Democrats in the Senate, but the four independents caucus with the Democrats to given them a tenuous majority. So the mere fact that each chamber is about dead even makes the lack of action understandable.
But one of the problems has been that the House is concerned with passing bills that leadership thinks the Senate will approve…while the Senate doesn’t give a hoot about what the House wants.
Here’s why that’s important. If each chamber passes a different version of a bill, it moves to conference committee with members from each chamber and each party. They hammer out a compromise and each chamber votes it up or down.
The problem is that if one side has already compromised in passing the bill…the actual compromise is slanted too far toward the other side.
In other words, if Republicans in the House actually passed the bill they want, and Democrats in the Senate actually passed the bill they want, they are starting the compromise negotiations with each having to give up the same amount in theory to get things done.
But these days, Republicans give up a lot in their version of a bill…meaning when they give up even more during the conference committee negotiations, their supporters wind up with very little in the end.
Sort of like when the school bully comes toward you. You give him part of your lunch, perhaps your bag of chips, hoping he’ll go away. He takes the chips, but then also grabs the cupcake you were going to have for dessert, leaving you with just a peanut butter sandwich. Quite disappointing at lunch…and for GOP voters.
If Republicans in the House want to cut spending as they say they do, then cut it. If the Senate doesn’t like it, negotiate from a position of strength in the conference committee. Otherwise, you’re just stuck with a sandwich.
