A Tale of Filibuster and Congressional Deadlines
Keep this record-setting delaying tactic in mind as Congress trots towards several deadlines.
The first (and perennial) deadline is the budget. Appropriations bills are lagging far behind the federal October-September fiscal year. Look for tried-and-true stand-by stop-gap measures to keep government (and on-budget war funds) running.
There are 12 spending bills that need to pass in order to fund each fiscal year, which begins 1 October. All have passed the House. It's the filibuster-prone Senate where the bills languish. One bill was passed before recess, but Bush doesn't like it in part because it forces the federal government to pay prevailing wages (Davis-Bacon Act), something the feds avoided post-Katrina.
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) also technically ends 30 September. According to the Congressional Research Service, 15 states will run out of federal money by the end of October unless Congress acts. Bush has threatened to veto bi-partisan supported legislation which would fund SCHIP for five years.
Still on the children theme: also expiring 1 October is No Child Left Behind. There is probably only one issue debated more heatedly in this country than education -- and that's Iraq. No crystal-ball gazing on that one here!
Also expiring 30 September: the 2002 farm bill. Look for an extension on this, too, since Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) isn't having mark-up hearings until the second week in October.
Since you're reading this, the next entry should be of interest. On 1 November, the federal ban on state taxation of ISP services expires. States want to make sure that bundled offerings (such as cable, phone, internet) don't totally escape taxation. Stay tuned -- better yet, contact your Congressman and urge that the ban be extended.
There are a lot of other issues that need attention. Immigration and the DREAM Act of 2007, which grants amnesty to aliens who entered the U.S. before age 16 and have either (1) enrolled in primary or secondary school or (2) received a high school degree or been admitted to an institution of higher education. Energy legislation. Voting machine legislation (paper trails - yes or no?). Should Governors retain the right to manage National Guard troops or can the President trump the state?
And the over-riding issue: what to do about Iraq. Americans want out - the President doesn't and the Rs in the Senate continue to pull at least 40 members to block Senate legislation.
The next few weeks inside the Beltway should be a bustle of action -- but don't forget to distinguish between real votes on legislation and votes to bring a measure to the floor. It's the later where the delays occur.