Too early to tout Bush's legislative wins
LARRY EICHEL, PHILA INQUIRER
So the President heads off to the ranch in Texas for his summer vacation with two big victories under his belt. Turns out that reports of his irrelevance to what happens on Capitol Hill were greatly exaggerated.
On energy, he got most of what he wanted in the bill the House passed in the wee hours of Thursday morning by a surprisingly comfortable 240-189 vote. Acting on his behalf, Republicans leaders fought off attempts to toughen the language on mileage standards for minivans and sport utility vehicles and to eliminate his plan to permit oil-drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.
On the patients' bill of rights, he yielded some ground, agreeing to allow patients to sue health maintenance organizations in state court in some circumstances and to seek higher damage awards than he'd initially proposed. But the final version, which passed 226-203, is far more restrictive than what the Senate passed in June.
Earlier this summer, both victories seemed beyond Bush's grasp, what with the moderate Republicans flexing their muscles and polls showing that the public thought the Democrats had the better approach to both issues. Yet he prevailed.
On Thursday morning, Vice President Cheney stood on the Capitol steps, backed by dozens of GOP senators and representatives, and described the 61/2 months since he and Bush were inaugurated as one of the most productive periods he'd ever seen in Washington.
Let's not get carried away, Mr. Vice President. Some perspective is in order. The tax cut remains the signature accomplishment of the administration to date. The members of Congress standing with Cheney on the Capitol steps were waving replicas of tax refund checks, not miniature oil wells.
What happened last week was that the President, with no small effort, managed to get two significant pieces of legislation through the one body the White House always assumed he'd be able to control, the GOP-run and conservative-dominated House of Representatives.
And it's not clear how much he accomplished of any lasting value or import.
In discussing the patients' rights question, Bush has said that legislators should have as their goal producing something that he would be willing to sign and not feel compelled to veto. He's made similar statements on campaign-finance reform and other issues.
Sounds reasonable, almost self-evident. But if that something is a bill that the Democratically controlled Senate won't go along with, then it never gets to his desk and his willingness to affix his signature doesn't matter all that much.
And there's still a distinct possibility that an impasse will be the final outcome on patients' rights and perhaps energy policy as well. Despite the House action, the question of how much to limit litigation against HMOs remains unresolved, as does whether to allow drilling in the Alaskan refuge. Each retains the potential of blocking agreement in any House-Senate conference committee.
If that happens, the two parties will end up with issues for the next election, battle lines drawn more clearly than ever, rather than legislation that might actually change what happens in the outside world among energy companies and consumers, HMOs and patients.
All of that remains to be seen. What's been accomplished thus far may merely alter the parameters of the blame game.
A month ago, when Bush rallied his congressional troops following the Fourth of July recess, the onus to move forward lay squarely on the President and the Republicans in the House. And they responded.
After Labor Day, when the politicians return to Washington, the pressure will fall on Tom Daschle and the Democrats in the Senate. Their challenge will be to press their views without looking like obstructionists.
Forcing such a change in the political dynamic may not be as significant an accomplishment as what the Republicans are touting. But it's something. |
