Lame prospects for a lame duck session?
Posted: Friday, November 07, 2008 11:15 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Congress, Democrats
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
The notion that the House of Representatives is going to come back in this year for a lame duck session to enact a second stimulus or to send yet more money Detroit's way has always been a dubious proposition.
And it remains so this morning.
The votes in the Senate are simply not there in what remains of the 110th Congress, with its 49 Republican seats. Even if they were, the current president is not supportive of what the Democrats want to do. If that's the case, then what's the point of calling the House back in?
It's not likely to happen, Pelosi comments in today's Wall Street Journal notwithstanding. Her premise on this topic has always been predicated on IF the Senate and White House will go along.
It's simply not likely that lame-duck Republicans on their way out the door are suddenly going to turn around and change their votes on items like and expansion of food stamps and unemployment benefits. It could be argued that the results of Tuesday's election make it an even longer shot, as we can expect a conservative retrenchment on fiscal restraint.
The new year with a new administration and new Congress, that's when tax cuts and renewable energy tax credits are likely to be moved, along with the infrastructure spending, food stamps, unemployment insurance, etc., that Dems have been clamoring for since early in the year.
