Fighting or friendly?
Amidei, Nancy
THE NEW CONGRESS FIGHTING OR FRIENDLY? DEFICITS & SOCIAL PROGRAMS The 101st Congress that convenes this month could prove to be one of the most fractious of recent years. It must attempt to deal...
...whether to limit Social Security...
...It's hard enough to be in the minority for thirty years, but Wright leaves many Republicans feeling that they don't even get a fair chance to express their minority views...
...But even so, it won't be easy...
...it has become the battleground for national policy...
...He is less able than Reagan to either charm, or go around, the Congress, and is saddled with a long list of campaign promises that would add substantially to the debt if pursued...
...will be the first black member to hold a House leadership post...
...As Representative Pat Schroeder (D-Colo...
...Bush is another matter...
...Nor are House Democrats pleased that there seems to be so much to the ethics charges Republicans have raised against Wright...
...and Robb (D) for Trible (R) in Virginia...
...Some of that is just personality...
...and Vermont's Jeffords (R) may well produce a voting record much like Stafford's (R...
...But Congress rarely thought it could take on Reagan...
...In the Senate, for example, where there are ten new members, and a comfortable Democratic majority, there are likely to be fewer votes overall for kids or health care or social welfare generally: The biggest loss in that regard was Connecticut Republican Lowell Weicker...
...housing...
...child care...
...As a result of the 1988 elections, the Democrats have a larger majority in the Senate (55-45), in the House (262-173), and among the nation's Governors (28-22)-a matter of future importance, since redistricting will follow the 1990 census...
...Wright isn't...
...Some observers feel the tension with Wright is just a smokescreen for growing problems within Republican ranks, where members on the far right want a larger voice and have been pressing for a more aggressive stand vis-a-vis the majority...
...Representative Bill Gray (D-Pa...
...Kerry (D) for Karnes (R) in Nebraska...
...The new/old leadership in the Senate (Mitchell for the majority...
...the Cleveland Democrat, lost her bid for a place in the House Democratic leadership, as did Lynn Martin of Rockford, Illinois, seeking to head the House Republican Conference...
...And when it comes to domestic social policy, some of the new Senate members are clearly a change for the worse: Mack (R) for Chiles (D) in Florida...
...Lott (R) for Stennis (D) in Mississippi...
...Dole for the minority) is intelligent, able-and chosen for their abilities in a television age...
...and growing pressure to raise revenues...
...The federal budget already absorbs much of the Congress's time and attention...
...On the House side, the leadership (and membership) remains largely unchanged from what it was before Novembers, and therein lies a problem: House Republicans are unhappy with Speaker Jim Wright of Texas...
...He inherits from Reagan a massive deficit...
...Weicker will be sorely missed...
...NANCY AMIDEI Nancy Amidei writes frequently on poverty, hunger, and human services issues in these pages.s in these pages...
...Gorton (R) for Evans (R) in Washington...
...Bush's first big test will come almost immediately, at the point when he sends Congress his version of the budget...
...Unless they win procedural concessions (more members on key committees, more open floor debates), some Republicans are threatening to tie the House in knots...
...health care in general...
...But numbers aren't the whole story, and Bush is not the only one facing potential problems...
...in the House...
...Winner Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat, may prove decent enough on domestic issues, but he doesn't have the stature, seniority, or sense of vision that Weicker had when it came to such different issues as biomedical research and helping families with disabled members...
...It must attempt to deal with a growing list of politically sensitive domestic policy "crises": savings and loan bankruptcies...
...Looming over everything is the deficit (a problem partially of Congress's own making), and complicating all their tasks are unresolved questions of ethics and the growing role of campaign financing...
...The powerful House and Senate budget committees have politically savvy but usually cautious, new leaders: Jim Sasser (D-Tenn...
...Two new members represent little change from the men they succeed: Nevada's Bryan (D) should be an improvement over Hecht (R), but his reputation as a fence-sitter makes that less than certain...
...long-term patient care...
...Only three replacements seem likely to be clear improvements: Kohl (D) for Proxmire (D) in Wisconsin...
...Nobody-not George Bush, not the advocacy community-is likely to have an easy time with the new Congress...
...Has observed, Bush came into office with the coattails of a bikini...
...There are already some indications that the last Reagan budget will contain enough vintage Reagan domestic cuts to let any Bush modifications look moderate (if not generous...
...will go far in determining whether this is to be the "fighting" 101st, or the "friendly" 101st...
...Bush generally has a difficult task ahead...
...How Bush chooses to work with the Congress in framing the budget debate, and how Congress responds to him...
...An internally divided, distracted Congress is not in his interest...
...in the Senate, and Leon Panetta (D-Calif...
...a legacy of bad feeling over heavy-handed (often less-than-honest) White House tactics in dealing with Congress...
...Neither party in either house will have any women in any leadership position (Mary Rose Oakar...
...Burns (R) for Melcher (D) in Montana...
...Tip O'Neill was as partisan as they come, but he was regarded as fair and respectful of everyone-political enemies included...
...That may help them vent their frustrations, but it won't make things any easier for the legislative process or for Bush and the new White House staff...
Vol. 116 • January 1989 • No. 1
