Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way
By E. Ralph Hostetter (08/10/07)
The much vaunted leadership of the 110th Congress arrived last January in Washington amid much fanfare about the first 100 hours of Congressional action, leading on through the first 100 days of major legislative accomplishments.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was installed as the first woman Speaker of the House. Finding a new use for her broom, she immediately began sweeping the cobwebs of corruption, untruths and incompetence left by the former Republican occupants of her newly draped offices. She would make her influence felt in Washington.
Meanwhile, Senator Harry M. Reid (D-NV) was settling into his office as Majority Leader with somewhat less fanfare. The first 100 days passed and then some, and a strange quiet has settled over Congress. The Democrats had basically campaigned on a single issue, ending the war in Iraq. With a substantial victory in the House of Representatives and a very narrow victory in the Senate, they interpreted this as a mandate.
Although a majority of the American people had become weary of the war and the growing loss of American lives, they were not yet ready to quit the war outright. When faced with the fact that cutting off funds for the war effort, thus abandoning the brave men and women in combat, was the only way to end America's involvement, the leadership lacked the courage to proceed.
With the exception of the passage, first, of a wage increase for themselves, a minimum wage law, a very weak energy bill and an investigation of "corruption" in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' office with respect to the dismissal of seven United States District Attorneys, nothing was accomplished. The investigation of the Attorney General’s office proceeds with the wild hope they can involve either or both Presidential Assistant Karl Rove and Vice President Richard B. Cheney in some sort of indictable crime, perhaps similar to the Scooter Libby case.
Not having a campaign platform issue other than the war in Iraq to fall back on, they find themselves out of steam and dead in the water. Observers of late have noticed the House and Senate leaders no longer appear singly before the microphone but rather in a group, displaying a downcast countenance. They appear more as a group of losers rather than victors in a recent hard-fought election.
Congress finds itself out of touch with the American public. While Congress is adrift in La-La Land, two of the most critical issues ever to face the nation go begging for solutions. These two issues at some point may determine whether or not America can maintain its economy and its culture. The two issues are energy and rampant illegal immigration.
The Senate passed its first energy bill on June 25 by a vote of 65-27. The bill mandates annual production of 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022, and a 40% increase in gasoline mileage for all motor vehicles.
An arithmetic glance at the figures for ethanol indicates that a situation known as economic cannibalism would be created by the year 2022, whereby one vital commodity (food) is devoured by another vital commodity (energy). The production of 36 billion gallons of ethanol will consume 92% of the entire corn crop (91 million acres) produced annually as of 2007.
Talk of the use of cellulose is just that. The investment of billions of dollars for the infrastructure necessary to produce the ethanol will dictate the fulfillment of the mandate. Investors will have to be repaid. In the upcoming battle of food vs. energy the odds are that energy will win, leading, perhaps, to catastrophic results. Corn is used in a total of 3,500 U.S. food products.
The other fantasy solution offered was a mandate to auto manufacturers to boost gasoline mileage by 40%. No mention was made of producing gasoline from our 200-plus billion barrels of crude oil reserves in our own country. However, that same week, the House voted 196-233 on H.B. 6243, refusing to end the 20-year-old moratorium on drilling for energy off the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. A yes vote was to repeal the ban.
The most "critical" of all the issues the new House leadership struggled with was the Congressional Pay Raise (H.R. 2829), which passed 244-181. Their new salary will be $170,000 per year plus untold tens of thousands of dollars in expenses.
No doubt, the overburdening struggle over the Congressional pay raise issue left Member of Congress too exhausted to return to the other major issue facing the nation, illegal immigration. Their two failed attempts in the Senate to pass the comprehensive immigration (amnesty) bill resulted from the fact that both parties completely misread the will of the American public. The U.S. public will not accept amnesty. Nothing substantial has come forth from the 110th Congress to secure the border or to deal with the 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants already here.
Rumors are that Al Qaeda is already taking advantage of America’s failed border security to gain access to the United States. The word is that nothing will be done about illegal immigration or energy by this "Do Nothing" Congress until it is replaced by the 111th Congress in 2009.
It is bad enough that the 110th Congress is useless — worse, since no legislative action can be taken without it, it has become an obstacle.
E. Ralph Hostetter, a prominent businessman and publisher, also is an award-winning columnist and Vice Chairman of the Free Congress Foundation Board of Directors.
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