Daschle's Dead Zone

It was said of Willie Mays that his glove was the place where triples went to die. The U.S. Senate has earned a similar reputation of late, but one that is hardly a compliment: It's the place where good ideas go to die.

Consider the table nearby of important legislation that has passed the House of Representatives and has gone nowhere quickly on the other side of the Capitol. This is far from an exhaustive list. We counted 27 such major bills in the past session of Congress, and 26 more are in danger of meeting the same fate this year. The simple truth is that, despite holding the White House and majorities in both houses, the Republicans have not been able to carry out most of the agenda on which they campaigned.

Some liberals might argue that this is by design. The Founding Fathers created the Senate as "a defense to the people against their own temporary errors and delusions," in the words of James Madison. So they wisely insulated the upper house against passing democratic passions through six-year terms. As a further safeguard, the Senate's own rules and traditions give to the minority the power to hold the whole body hostage through the filibuster, which can only be overcome by a supermajority of 60 votes.

SENATE GRAVEYARD

Legislation that has passed the House in the 108th Congress but is dying in the world's greatest deliberative body.

BILL...............................................HOUSE VOTE DATE BILL PASSED IN THE HOUSE
Welfare Reform..............................230-192 Feb. 13, 2003
Human Cloning Prohibition Act....241-155 Feb. 27, 2003
Medical Malpractice........................229-196 March 3, 2003
Bankruptcy Reform.........................315-113 March 17, 2003
Pension Security Act......................271-157 May 14, 2003
Flag Burning and Desecration.....300-125 Jun 3, 2003
Class Action Fairness Act.............253-170 June 12, 2003
Death Tax Repeal...........................264-163 June 18, 2003
Head Start Reform..........................217-216 July 25, 2003
Energy Bill.........................................246-180 Nov. 21, 2003
Marriage Penalty Repeal.................323-95 April 28, 2004
Make 10% Tax Bracket Permanent.344-76 May 13, 2004

Source: Thomas and WSJ Research

...

It's worth remembering, however, that historically the latter weapon was used sparingly. The threat of a filibuster was most often brandished as a bargaining tool for the minority to exact concessions from the majority. But in recent years, and never more than in this Congress, the filibuster has become a tool to block an entire legislative program that had won a mandate from the voters.

All of this has been part of a deliberate political strategy by Minority Leader Tom Daschle. He has organized the filibusters that have blocked votes on nearly every bill on the nearby list. On class-action reform, he prevailed last year despite underlying support for the bill from 59 Senators (and this year despite support from 62, after he demanded multiple non-germane amendments). He has blocked an extension of welfare reform that was signed by Bill Clinton and is one of the most successful domestic policy efforts in the past 50 years.

Mr. Daschle is fighting tooth and nail even on bills that both sides can agree are beneficial. Witness the struggle of Majority Leader Bill Frist just to get Democrats to send to conference a bill bringing corporate taxes into compliance with World Trade Organization rules. Such conference agreements used to be routine. Because of the two months of needless delay after Senate passage of the bill, there may not be time left in this Congress to reach a compromise with the House. That means European Union sanctions against American businesses will continue to ratchet up each month, costing jobs.

The Democratic calculus here is obvious. Usually when Congress is gridlocked, the public blames the majority for failing to compromise enough to get something done. That's what happened in 2002 to Democrats who had obstructed passage of a homeland security bill in order to placate union demands. Mr. Daschle lost his majority.

But rather than conclude that he had been too obstructionist, Mr. Daschle decided he hadn't been obstructionist enough. And because the GOP now has nominal Senate control with 51 seats, he figures the public will blame Republicans this time for the failure to get much done. So far he has been right, judging by the polls. Then again, Democrats also thought they were winning in 2002, until Election Day approached, voters figured out what was happening and Max Cleland among others was ousted.

The political reality is that if voters want to pass the items on the attached list, much less pass Social Security reform or make tax cuts permanent, they are going to have to elect more Republican Senators in November.

The biggest test will be in South Dakota, where Mr. Daschle is facing his most difficult re-election challenge since his first race in 1986. His opponent is former Congressman John Thune, and the polls show the race is a toss-up, notwithstanding Mr. Daschle having spent close to $10 million so far in a state with only 750,000 people. The main issue in that race deserves to be whether Mr. Daschle's decision to turn the Senate into a reform graveyard should be rewarded with another six years.

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