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The Accomplishments Of 2009

By Big Tent Democrat

Via DougJ, Norm Ornstein touts the accomplishments of 2009:

There seems to be little to endear citizens to their legislature or to the president trying to influence it. It's too bad because [. . .] this Democratic Congress is on a path to become one of the most productive since the Great Society 89th Congress in 1965-66, and Obama already has the most legislative success of any modern president -- and that includes Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson. [. . .]

Ornstein's idea is that passing legislation, ANY legislation, is accomplishment. The trouble with that perspective is the country does not look at "passing legislation" as accomplishment. They look at effects on their everyday lives as accomplishment. Ornstein is a smart guy, but he is of the Village, where "accomplishments" are measured differently than in the country. More . . .

Consider Ornstein's list:

The productivity began with the stimulus package, which was far more than an injection of $787 billion in government spending to jump-start the ailing economy. More than one-third of it -- $288 billion -- came in the form of tax cuts, making it one of the largest tax cuts in history, with sizable credits for energy conservation and renewable-energy production as well as home-buying and college tuition. The stimulus also promised $19 billion for the critical policy arena of health-information technology, and more than $1 billion to advance research on the effectiveness of health-care treatments.

The "accomplishment" of passing tax cuts (the biggest is not mentioned by Ornstein, the 80 billion dollar AMT fix, which has been "accomplished" by every Congress since there has been an AMT) that were ineffective stimulus is not something to be touted. It was actually a failure, political and policy-wise. Why? Because 10% of the already inadequate stimulus was wasted on the least stimulative policy available, a policy that would have been enacted, as it always is, no matter what. The stimulus is actually a great window into why the accomplishments of 2009 do not measure up. "Something" was passed to be sure. And it was better than nothing. But not what was necessary. So, today we have 10% unemployment, a fragile economy, and a hostile electorate unwilling to support doing the more that is necessary for job creation. The stimulus was an accomplishment, but an inadequate one which leaves the nation flailing.

Ornstein continues:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has leveraged some of the stimulus money to encourage wide-ranging reform in school districts across the country.

Wide ranging reform means what exactly? Again, doing something is an "accomplishment," but of what? I admit I do not know what Arne Duncan is up to, but I bet Norm Ornstein does not either. To Ornstein, "doing something" is an accomplishment. To the country, accomplishing something worthwhile is an accomplishment. Maybe Duncan is doing that, but Ornstein does not tell us and I venture to guess he does not know.

Ornstein further writes:

There were also massive investments in green technologies, clean water and a smart grid for electricity, while the $70 billion or more in energy and environmental programs was perhaps the most ambitious advancement in these areas in modern times. As a bonus, more than $7 billion was allotted to expand broadband and wireless Internet access, a step toward the goal of universal access.

This sounds good. It even sounds like a real accomplishment. I'll take Ornstein's word for it - this is real accomplishment. That said, what about next year? Or is $70 billion it? What of the spending freeze to come?

Ornstein continues:

Any Congress that passed all these items separately would be considered enormously productive. Instead, this Congress did it in one bill.

In the Village I suppose. In the real world, the view is that the federal government dropped the ball on the employment problem in the stimulus and now there is the political will to do anything worthwhile is lacking. Again, passing legislation in and of itself is not considered "accomplishments" in the real world. Addressing the problems of the country EFFECTIVELY is the measure of accomplishment.

Ornstein continues:

Lawmakers then added to their record by expanding children's health insurance and providing stiff oversight of the TARP funds allocated by the previous Congress. Other accomplishments included a law to allow the FDA to regulate tobacco, the largest land conservation law in nearly two decades, a credit card holders' bill of rights and defense procurement reform.

The continuation and expansion of S-CHip, created during the Clinton Administration, is obviously a good thing. An "accomplishment" even. But so is funding Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of Education, etc. Continuing the good things that already exist is simply not going to be viewed as an accomplishment of this government.

Ornstein says:

Certainly, the quality of this legislative output is a matter of debate.

It is indeed. That is why it is silly to cite the passing of legislation as "accomplishments." The QUALITY of the legislation is central to whether the legislation is an accomplishment.

Of course NOT passing legislation is not an accomplishment either. But reciting the passage of legislation is a poor measure of accomplishment. Yet that is the measure Ornstein has chosen. That works in the Village, but not in the real world.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 31, 2010 (boomark / email).