Roast the lame duck (session) this holiday season

I was driving home Wednesday night, listening to Sean Hannity. He was ranting about the Democratic members of Congress who “were not following the will of the people from the last election.” He asked why Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid refused to do what the voters demanded.

He must have forgotten that the 111^th Congress opened in January 2009 with the legislators elected in November 2008. This Congress is working under a different mandate than the one coming in, one where the Democratic Party’s ideas were given the go-ahead.

The most recent  election sent a different message: slow down on the Democratic agenda; do something different with the economy. Now, the electorate is wondering, “Why aren’t they doing what we just elected them to do?”

The reason is simple. The 112^th Congress doesn’t start until Jan. 3, 2011.

So for the last few weeks in Washington D.C., just like in Wisconsin and other states, lame duck legislatures have been hashing out spending bills, contracts and social policy bills that haven’t been passed in the previous 22 months of the session. The highest profile votes have been on bills that stand little chance of passing in the next session. It’s a common practice, but that doesn’t make it right.

It’s time to end the lame duck sessions once and for all. Eliminate the two months of lag time between election and swearing in. It will stop the mischief and mayhem lame duck legislators can cause and accurately reflect the mood of the voters sooner than later.

Last week, outgoing Gov. Jim Doyle and Democrats tried to pass public employee contracts as the movers were packing boxes. They realized every vote was needed, even springing convicted drunk-driver and lame-duck Rep. Jeff Wood from jail to vote.

But Democratic State Sen. Speaker Russ Decker held to a principle that dates back to George Washington, the idea that “elections have consequences.” Instead of voting for the contracts, Decker voted no, along with outgoing Democratic State Sen. Jeff Plale.

The contracts eventually failed and the state legislature adjourned sine die, not to meet again until the new Republican-controlled legislature takes over in January.

Washington hasn’t behaved much better. First came the bitter battle to approve a tax-rate compromise, then the withdrawal of a spending bill that would have extended funding for government programs and added billions in pork, and now a quick vote on, but  little time to deal with, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” START or the DREAM Act.

Democrats railed because President Obama read the election results and compromised with Republicans on the tax issue, though in the end they voted in favor of it. Now the Republicans are holding up everything else because they feel they’ve received a mandate to do so.

But the real problem is holding the lame duck session at all.

Prior to 1934, the transfer of power didn’t take place until the March following a November election. It took a long time to ride a horse or take a train to Washington, so the legislature recessed before the election, celebrated the holidays, then hit the road for the long trip to the capitol.

The 20^th Amendment changed the start date of Congress to the first Monday of January and the presidential inauguration to January 20.

The Washington Post even ran a headline after the amendment’s passage: “Present Lame Duck Session Will Be Last,” assuming legislators wouldn’t want to return to Washington during the holiday months. This didn’t turn out to be the case.

No one in 1933 could anticipate the growth of air travel or the Internet. With red-eye flights, emails and Blackberries to keep legislators in touch and able to return at a moment’s notice, legislators are always on call. A good example is the Christmas Eve passage of Health Care Reform.

Since November, defeated legislators have moved from their offices in Madison and Washington into basement cubbies while the elected move in and begin to hold caucuses and policy summits.

New Senators and Representatives could be ready to convene in two weeks. They’re in Washington and Madison within days of the election. We should really hope they are up to speed on the issues before the election and have a good idea who they will tap to run their offices and assist them in decision-making.

The lame duck session creates drama and puts legislation and legislators under Damocles’ Sword. It holds the American people hostage while political fights persist.

It also expands the campaign season and stops the work of the people. The state employee contracts, the tax rates, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and all the other very important pieces of legislation that have to be decided right now could have been debated and voted on in a thoughtful manner prior to the election, that is if legislators and candidates weren’t so caught up in campaigning for the next term.

But then, that would have given election opponents more ammunition to use against foot-dragging incumbents in both Madison and Washington who were more interested in getting re-elected and not doing the people’s business.

So this Christmas, let us roast that lame-duck and serve up a more effective and responsive legislature for the future.