(WP report from the Republican 2006 LAME-duck...compare and contrast)
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Congress will convene on Tuesday for what some fear will be the lamest of lame-duck sessions, and GOP leaders have decided to take a minimalist approach before turning over the reins of power to the Democrats. Rather than a final surge of legislative activity, Congress will probably wrap up things after a single, short week of work. They have even decided to punt decisions on annual government spending measures to the Democrats next year.
“There is a lot of battle fatigue among members, probably on both sides of the aisle,” said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), usually a reliable conservative firebrand. “Contrary to popular belief, members of Congress are human beings. They have a certain shelf life and a certain amount of energy to be drawn on. We’re tired.”
Anguished over the Democrats’ victory on Nov. 7 and the tumult that has followed, GOP lawmakers want to get out of town. One senior Senate Republican aide called hopes for substantive legislation “delusional.”
Much of the problem is as prosaic as office space, GOP aides said. Lawmakers were forced to vacate their offices on Friday, and few of them want to hang around Washington with no place to sit. Retiring House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) got angry during a meeting of committee chairmen, demanding to know how he was supposed to complete work on the business tax extension bill without an office, according to one GOP aide present in the meeting.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2644463/posts
Gay activist hospitalized for anxiety
Orange County Register, 12/17/2010
Gay activist and Iraq war veteran Lt. Dan Choi has been hospitalized following a breakdown, ABC News is reporting.
“Dan sends his unconditional love,” said Choi’s Twitter account, after linking to the ABC article.
Choi, a Tustin High graduate, was discharged from the New York Army National Guard in July under the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy he’s been working to change. He was admitted to the psychiatric ward at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Brockton, Mass., ABC News stated.