Fear the quack
Republicans are now stoking fears that Democrats could use the s0-called lame duck period – when defeated incumbents finish out their terms between election day and the next congressional session – to push through key priorities:
As Congress heads home for August, Republicans and conservative activists have a new rallying cry to energize voters: Fear the Lame Duck!
With dark warnings, GOP members of Congress and right-wing media figures are suggesting that the Democratic majority could use a post-election session of Congress to jam through tax increases, cap and trade, immigration reform and legislation making it easier for unions to organize workers.
Whether or not this approach could work, there is a real debate about its legitimacy. On the one hand, it’s within legislative rules. On the other, it flouts the basic democratic values of representation and accountability.
This is true for at least a couple of reasons. First, defeated incumbents arguably no longer represent anyone, despite the fact they remain sitting until the end of session. Second, one of the basic premises of a lame duck legislative approach is that now-defeated incumbents no longer need worry about the political fallout of their votes. But “fallout” is basically a watchword for “answering to voters.”
I guess sometimes it takes ignoring constituents to get things done in a representative democracy.
-Sam
Image used under a Creative Commons attribution license from Flickr user HVargas.
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