Entries for July 2006

There are fewer things more distasteful to watch than a Congress trying to get out of town before a long recess leading into a hotly contested midterm election. It's always full of craven declarations of accomplishment, not to mention midnight meetings about ways to pass bills that look good and compromises made with little other than an election in mind. All in all, not pretty.

Waterbury, Conn.--Liberal Democrats in Connecticut are having a great time these days accusing Sen. Joe Lieberman of hugging--even kissing--President Bush. But Bill Clinton is the man Lieberman is really embracing.

This close to an election, it's rare that one party–led by the president–hands the other party an issue on a silver platter. Yet the president's veto this week–against increased funding for embryonic stem cell research, approved by a majority of both houses of Congress–does just that. Imagine this: A majority of the American public wants this kind of research, as do an increasing number of GOP candidates–including big names like Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Sen. John McCain–but the president can't seem to get off the dime and change his position from August 2001. At that time, he said federal money could go only to stem cells already in existence.

It's been just about one year since Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist decided to do an about-face and support embryonic stem-cell research, breaking with President Bush. Some said it was about political expediency– he had so angered moderates by his intervention in the Terri Schiavo case that he was culling their favor by calling for embryonic research. But after spending a couple of hours with the senator on this, I've come to a different conclusion: As a doctor, he believed that the science had changed dramatically and that the stem-cell lines the president authorized for use have not delivered what they promised, and so change is in order.

It was supposed to be a slam-dunk–which is why House Republican leaders originally decided to bring up the 1965 Voting Rights Act for renewal a full year before parts of it expire. After all, Republicans had been criticized for being anti-immigrant during the contentious debate over immigration reform, and this seemed to be an easy way to mend fences–not build them.

It's a no-brainer, right? The Voting Rights Act, that bedrock of civil liberties passed in 1965, helped to end discrimination at the polls, not to mention to elect minority members of Congress. Up for renewal this year, it was placed on the docket before the July 4 congressional break by Republicans, who expected it to pass; in fact, they wanted to tout it back home as proof of their commitment to civil rights amid all the controversy over immigration reform.