The lame duck Congress is finally over: Who won and who lost?

  Well, the lame duck Congress is finally over and I have to admit that at times it felt like the session would go on forever. Mercifully on Wednesday the Congress adjourned and the debate began over which side actually prevailed in the lame duck session. Barack Obama claimed that this was the most productive lame duck Congress in decades, and while that may be non-quantitative hyperbole used to inflate his own self-worth, the fact is that he did manage a few victories in the last days of the lame duck Congress, but both sides have issues they can claim victories on.

   First there was an extension of the Bush tax cuts: a deal which neither side is entirely happy with. But on an interesting side note, isn’t this an admission by Democrats that lower taxes are good for the economy while raising taxes stagnates the growth of the economy? If this were not the truth, and the truth was as the Democrats stated–that we could not afford these tax cuts any longer because of the worsening economy–there would have been no reason for the Democrats to compromise anything on this issue.

 Conservatives can also hang their hats on the fact that the $1 trillion budget which was loaded with pork failed because Mitch (known as Mike to the president) McConnell threatened to read aloud the whole bill, and as John Kerry stated, “why would we want to read the bill?” Coupled with growing anger and backlash from the people who have already sent a message to the Congress that we wanted the out of control spending stopped, Mitch McConnell was able to get a one page continuing resolution passed that would fund the federal government at current levels through March, giving the new Congress their rightful authority to pass a new budget. In an interesting side note: there is no funding for the healthcare reform law in the continuing resolution, this may be one reason why the left is so up in arms about this move, so the new Congress will be able to buy some time if they decide to defund healthcare reform.

  Conservatives can also be very happy that the DREAM Act was once again stopped in its tracks. This is the one piece of legislation that I most feared would pass and they one piece of legislation that I was glad to see fail over all of the others. This was a huge win for conservatives and the victory that the American people won with this bill’s failure cannot be overstated. In the wake of the lame duck Senate Barack Obama once again insulted the intelligence of the American people by claiming that we just do not understand the issue. He tried to take blame for the failure of the DREAM Act by claiming that he did not explain it to us in terms that even the unwashed masses could understand–or else we would have supported it. He has vowed to explain to us how stupid we have been on this issue so that he will be able to pass it in the future.

  But the left can also claim victories on the issues of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the START treaty.

  First, on the issue of DODT–and this is where I probably disagree with most conservatives–if a person is willing and able to defend this nation; if a person is willing to fight and possibly die so that we as a nation can remain safe and secure I honestly do not give a damn what that man or woman does in the privacy of his or her bedroom. It is simply none of my concern. I do not have a problem with gays serving in the military at all, however that is easy for me to say because I have never served in the military.

  I do believe that this is an issue that should be left up to the military leaders and is not an issue that should be decided in the Congress. Because of this I believe that DODT was probably bad law in the first place, as is this new repeal because the Congress is trying to set policy for a military in which many of the members have never served. How can the Congress have a legitimate grasp on all of the issues that may arise because of this? The military is much more knowledgeable on how this new policy will affect its members and I only hope that the Congress isn’t engaging in social engineering in a military that simply is not ready for this new change.

  As far as START goes, Barack Obama played his hand horribly because even before he was elected he promised to end the missile defense program. By doing this he weakened his hand while strengthening Russia’s hand. Russia held him over a barrel and he gleefully gave them everything that they wanted and more than they could ever hope for before he was elected. This deal has weakened America and because of this it is not surprising that the far left considers this treaty a victory, for they have felt that America is too strong for too many years. Barack Obama even stated once that “whether we like it or not, we are a superpower.” That shows the mindset of the far left and how they feel about America’s might. They have managed to drop America’s might down a notch and for that they are grateful.

  Now that the lame duck session is over both sides are touting their “victories” but it is going to take some time before we see all of the ramifications of this session–for better or worse. Conservatives are upset at the flurry of activity in the final days of the lame duck session and they are upset at the Republicans for caving into Barack Obama on a couple of key issues. They tend to look at this as a sign that nothing is going to change and they feel as if this is a sign of things to come in the new Congress. But conservatives need to remember one thing: the people that caved into the president on these issues are the same people that we have voted out of office, and this is precisely why we voted them out of office.

  This lame duck session should not be used as an example of what is to come in the new Congress because many of those that were so willing to cave into the president’s agenda will not be coming back and this simply highlights the reason why they will not be coming back.

  Conservatives need not hang their head in disbelief and disgust at the Republican party because this should have been expected. Until the new Congress convenes we will have no idea how the new Congress will react to such legislation and we all need to take a step back and watch how this new Congress operates. Then and only then will we know for sure if the new boss is the same as the old boss.