INSIDE WASHINGTON: Much ado on Hill about little
Congress is angling for that sound bite instead of jobs.
The Congress is in, but it’s far from lawmaking.
For the next 3 1/2 sweltering weeks on Capitol Hill, lawmakers will look busy, say many words and lob blame at each other. They will even cast votes on such weighty matters as health care reform, taxes and more. But they’re not expected to pass much legislation, opting instead for what amounts to campaigning from the televised House and Senate floors, or anywhere on the stately campus where a microphone might be live.
Just back from a weeklong July Fourth break, they’re not even pretending to govern. The schedule and all of the body language says they’re marking time: The Republican-led House this week got to work debating and voting on yet another doomed measure to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law. The Democratic-led Senate, meanwhile, is debating whether to give businesses a tax cut if they expand their payrolls, and whether to extend some or all of former President George W. Bush’s tax cuts - more measures not expected to go anywhere.