Ok, 2017 brings us a new Republican Congress, energized by the election of a Republican president, and eager to get things done.

So what is the literal first priority of the new Congress? To try to eliminate an independent ethics panel designed to investigate congressional misconduct, even charges raised anonymously by House members. Yep, Day One, Act

One, the Republican House of Representatives saw as their most important priority to end ethical oversight by independent reviewers.

The action was so incredible that the phone lines and emails of congress overwhelmed the capital, a rare event, in angry response to the bold attempt to protect our representatives from this necessary oversight. And of course, there remains that simple question: “What were you thinking?” Was the Republican Congress actually thinking ethics rules and oversight are a problem? Is the issue that ethics are a problem, so oversight had to be ended?

Whatever the goal, it is doubtful there could have been a more ill-thought start to the new congress.

Then the Senate and House moved to their promised priority over the last six years, repealing and replacing Obamacare, the healthcare program that has insured 20 million Americans. But, as it turns out, the Republicans, given their six year head start, seem to have no coherent plan on how to replace Obamacare, so their plan to repeal has a small technical problem…what to do with 20 million un-insured Americans?

Oops.

While the Affordable Care Act has succeeded in reducing the number of un-insured Americans from 18 to 8.6 percent, increases in co-pays, deductibles, and prescription costs have all risen since the program began. But the popular benefits of no lifetime limits on coverage, insurance for children up to 26 years and no penalties for pre-existing conditions, are all worth preserving. Consequently, repealing the ACA without protecting these benefits will hurt many Americans, as would any loss of coverage overall by repeal.

But, so far at least, Republicans cannot agree on any replacement that will protect the benefits that Americans have come to expect from their insurance. Now President-elect Trump wants better healthcare insurance at a lower cost, and his Congress seems unable or unwilling to offer any such program. Didn’t anyone on the Republican side of the aisle ever seriously think about these issues?

The next priority, in the Senate, is preparing for the nomination of a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, seemed stunned that Democrats in the Senate have no intention of voting for any proposed candidate who does not represent mainstream America.

Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-New York,  stated that they would leave the Supreme Court seat open if no moderate candidate was proposed.

This statement left McConnell shocked, as though he forgot that the Republicans left the seat open for nine months, refusing to consider any candidate the Democratic president nominated. With no hint of a smile, McConnell suggested it was unheard of to leave the seat open. Perhaps the majority leader thought the tactic he invented was only for his use.

So the Senate is off and running nowhere, with no plan to replace Obamacare and no way to seat a radical conservative on the Supreme Court.

Finally, the first of several scheduled hearings on the Russian interference in the U.S. Presidential election began this week. The 17 U.S. Intelligence agencies presented their report on the Russian actions while the president-elect Twittered that he preferred to believe the Russians and Julian Assange, the exiled WikiLeaks leader than his own Intelligence community.

All in all, an entertaining beginning to the new Congress.

 

Jim Crawford is a retired educator and political enthusiast living here in the Tri-State.