Democratic Congress

One year ago the voters of the United States decided to change course in our country by sending a Democratic majority to the Congress.

As one of the voters, I am disappointed at the direction this majority has taken--or not taken--our country. Many Americans wanted to end the war in Iraq, or at least curb it, but it continues to rage today as healthily as it did one year ago.

Congress will more than likely approve a $70 billion appropriation bill for the war before the holiday recess. Why did we need a Democratic majority, when the Republicans were doing so well? Is there some pull the president has over the Congress?

On December 6, Congress said it could not support a bill that made crimes against homosexuals hate crimes because it contained an appropriation for the war in Iraq. I hypothesized that it would be only a matter of time before they passed the bill. Ironically, it has only been a smidge over a week and they are ready to cave in to the demands of George W. Bush.

My question is now, why would they not support the December 6th bill, however, they now support passing the funding so readily? Is it because the Department of Defense is going to lay-off some of its civilian workforce? Did the president cast a spell over them?

So what?

The White House is determined to wage this war beyond all human contention. If the secretary of defense has to give some people pink slips, then they can blame the one person who is directly related to their misfortune: the president of the United States.

The Congress was elected to do the work of the American people, not the bidding of the president. We had a rubber stamp Republican Congress before, and now we have simply traded that travesty for a rubber stamp Democratic Congress. I honestly believed that a year later the United States would be on a different road, which included Iraq troop reductions.

It is just a shame that we had the opportunity to set a new direction for this country, but it has been squandered for submission and conformity to the status quo.