Steven Jonas, MD, MPH
“The 100 Hours” of the new Democratic House of Representatives is beginning just about now as I write this. The primary significance of “The 100 Hours” is that the legislative block of time exists. As much as the Republicans and their Privatized Ministry of Propaganda would like the public to think that the 100 hours are clock hours and the clock began ticking with the ceremonies opening the Congress took place on Jan. 4, the plan has always been that they are legislative hours, to begin when the first session of the 110th Congress is convened.
The significance “The 100 Hours” is that the House Democrats under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi have a plan, and it is a plan for dealing with substantive issues, six of them. The significance of “The 100 Hours” is that it is focused on substance, on enacting legislation, totally unlike Gingrich’s “Contract on America.” In the latter, six of its eight (not ten as is commonly thought) provisions dealt with Congressional processes, not substance.
“The 100 Hours” are to deal with substantive issues like raising the minimum wage for the first time in about ten years. This is an item that the Republican Congress absolutely refused to deal with, all the time they were continually raising the maximum wage for their super-rich paymasters. “The 100 Hours” is dealing with a substantive issue like implementing the host of recommendations that came out of the 9/11 Commission that the “We’re here to protect you” Bush Administration simply did not want to be bothered with, for two reasons. First they had nothing to do with ripping up the civil rights and liberties protections and separation of powers provisions of the Constitution. Second, they appeared not to have very much profit potential for the Republican corporate constituency.
The significance of “The 100 Hours” is that there is a clear leader of the House Democrats and that she has a clear agenda. This is what the Republicans are most afraid of: a Democrat who knows where she is going and has a pretty good plan for getting there. For the first time since the days of Speaker Sam Rayburn there is a Democratic Speaker who is good at herding cats and wants to do it. Since they were dealing with Republicans, Gingrich/DeLay/Hastert, in contrast, only had to be good at herding sheep, and to be sure were oh-so-expert in rounding up the occasional stray.
Thus in terms or power and influence in the House Democratic caucus, the Republicans face a foe who is the Democratic equivalent of Gingrich/DeLay/Hastert. Since the substance of what Speaker Pelosi intends to accomplish is diametrically opposed to the substance of what Gingrich/DeLay/Hastert did accomplish, indeed the Republicans are afraid, very afraid. Which is precisely why they and their Privatized Ministry of Propaganda lead by the Fox “News” Channel and O’RHannibaugh are working so hard to demonize her.
Finally “The 100 Hours” signifies a Democratic Congress, not just the House, which is different from any previous Democratic Congress. Due to the racism-based, Nixon-initiated Republican “Southern Strategy” that has been so successful for them down to the present time, Democratic control of the Congress no longer depends on a large bloc of Southern Democrats. For that blessing, we can truly say “Hallelujah!” For the most part, other than a small bloc of African-American Representatives, there are few Southern Democrats left. Very significant.
As for policy, Democrats, since, unlike Republicans, when they are being Democrats they focus on new ideas and problem-solving for the majority of the people, are naturally internally combative. This, in my view, is healthy, as long as they come together on major issues, like Iraq, as with a few exceptions like Joe Lieberman, they are doing. And so “The 100 Hours” signifies a Democratic controlled Congress (at least for as long as Sen. Johnson lives and Sen. Lieberman doesn’t bolt) that is unified to a greater extent than any Democratic Congress has been since the days of Viet Nam and Watergate. The Republicans know that better than anyone. Chalk up another one for significance.
Originally published on BuzzFlash on Wed, 01/10/2007 – 5:57am. http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/jonas/042
Steven Jonas, MD, MPH is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University (NY) a weekly Contributing Author for The Political Junkies (www.thepoliticaljunkies.net), Contributing Editor for The Moving Planet Blog (http://www.planetarymovement.org/), and a Columnist for BuzzFlash (http://www.buzzflash.com/).
