The Chris Moeller Archives

43 hours

The newly-Democratic House of Representatives has delivered. Speaker Nancy Pelosi set out a six-item, 100 hour legislative agenda that was completed today after just 42 hours and 15 minutes, with promises of more progress to come! The House passed measures that would adopt the 9/11 Commission's security recommendations (Yeah!), increase the minimum wage (Right on!), expand stem cell research (Indeed!), require Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices (Now we're really rolling!), redirect $14 billion in tax breaks for Big Oil towards renewable energy (Ohh, Baby!), and lower interest rates on federal student loans (Maybe now Iowa Student Loan borrowers will lighten up.)

Credit where credit is due here, people. The Republicans' big legislative revolution, 1994's "Contract With America," delivered on many of its promised goals (no matter how damaging), but we were still waiting for those promised Congressional term limits when voters kicked the GOP to the curb in November. Time for the Senate to follow suit in OK'ing this week's legislation, and then for our putz of a President to put that veto pen in his hip pocket.

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KIOA-FM was rockin' again tonight on the 8pm commute, and moving rapidly through the alphabet: It was the Beatles' "Hippy Hippy Shake," followed by Brother Ray's "Hit the Road, Jack," and Marvin Gaye's "Hitchhike." I arrived home just before the playing of the subpar "Hitchin' a Ride" by Vanity Fare and who knows how many other songs pertaining to hitchhiking.

posted by CM @ 8:24 PM