Happy Last Day of The 109th Congress!

Today is the final day of the 109th Congress, and the final day of the Republican majority. This country will never forget their dedication to patriotically perpetuating failing military strategies, doing away with that bothersome surplus, keeping stress levels down with light work loads, keeping American sufficiently afraid at all times, making sure millionaires were not denied their constitutionally-mandated tax cuts, ending the free reign for the environment, defending marriage from teh gays, protecting America from 'secular' jihadists, stopping those two flag-burners from destroying America, keeping Jack Abramoff in business, saving electricity by turning the lights off on Democratic meetings, saving women from their abortion addictions, helping to ensure the Schiavo family didn't grieve alone, and other great causes. We salute you. Yesterday, the leaders said goodbye-

...There was significant pomp as Mr. Frist made his goodbye, and potent symbolism as well. He was preceded into the chamber by Vice President Dick Cheney, representing the White House that helped install him in the leadership job in 2002 and was seen as holding strong influence over him. Then came Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, the leader of the House, where corruption and gridlock helped spell the end of Republican control...

ThinkProgress looks at Sen. Frist's farewell rant against partisanship.

The San Francisco Chronicle reminds us that the outgoing Congress "is packing its bags for good and leaving town today without enacting nine of the 11 appropriations bills that pay for the federal government. It's a development that has infuriated Democrats, who will have to carry the additional burden of enacting the spending bills when they take control in January, and has left Republicans red-faced."

Elsehwhere, TPMmuckraker says goodbye to the 109th as well.

But what about the 110th? Sidney Blumenthal has a detailed writeup in Salon on the makeup and breakdown of the new Democratic majority. He notes that the new Democratic lineup "reflects a more politically cohesive national majority than any previous one". The piece is an excellent analysis of the elections in all states to look at the new political trends. In regards to how they will run the Congress, Blumental predicts-

The overriding strategic imperatives for the Democratic Congress, besides restoring the constitutional obligation of oversight of the executive branch, are several-fold. The leaders of the new Congress plan to pass legislation that addresses working- and middle-class economic insecurity. If Bush vetoes it, he will be defined as their antagonist. On domestic policy, therefore, casting Bush as rejectionist works to the Democrats' advantage. On foreign policy, it's more complicated, even treacherous.

In their enthusiasm at finally attaining a measure of power, Democrats have not yet clarified that congressional power is inherently limited in foreign policy. By offering alternative tactics for Iraq that are overly precise, the Democrats may assume a share of the blame for a debacle that properly and solely belongs to Bush. Nonetheless, they can use their powers to illustrate the heedlessness of the president.

That sounds about right.

From a collection of articles I came across in the past few days, here's a quick roundup of some Democratic plans... Leaders have "promised to make ethics reform their first order of business when they take control in January, [including] an independent office to investigate ethics complaints against members of Congress." On the economic front, "Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the party's leaders, had notified Republicans they will try to add the anti-[congressional]-pay-raise provision to a bill that provides funds for most government agencies"; they said the congressional raise will be blocked until a federal minimum wage increase is passed. On the issue of electoral dysfunction, "voters around the country are likely to see sweeping changes in how they cast their ballots and how those ballots are counted, including an end to the use of most electronic voting machines without a paper trail." Moving to concerns over detainee treatment and constitutional issues, "The incoming and outgoing Chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Pat Leahy and Arlen Specter, yesterday jointly introduced legislation to repeal the portion of the Military Commissions Act which purports to eliminate habeas corpus rights for detainees and strip federal courts of jurisdiction to adjudicate detainee claims." That issue is sure to prove a difficult one, even in the new Congress. Finally, on the return to oversight front, "Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said he plans to hold a series of hearings on Iraq soon after becoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee next month when Democrats take control of Congress, and he said he is prepared to use subpoenas to get relevant documents from the Pentagon."

We'll see how much gets done, but for now parting is not such sweet sorrow after all.