Legislative Paralysis Strikes Capitol Hill Under New repugican congress

Despite a successfully stealing the November election, where the repugican cabal increased their majority in the House, and stole control of the Senate, the new repugican misled Congress has proven unable to pass significant legislation. Since taking the reins in both Houses of Congress, the repugicans have only been able to pass two pieces of legislation. By contrast, in 2007, when the Democrats were in a similar situation, after retaking the U.S. House, they had managed to pass six pieces of legislation by this stage. The Democrats managed to push through three times as many bills then, even though the White House was still held by the repugican pretender - the shrub.

The two measures repugicans have been able to pass into law, included funding a terrorism insurance program, and passing a noncontroversial bipartisan bill related to Veterans mental health. Many other bills have crumbled under the weight of partisan infighting. Squabbles between the hyper-partisan repugican cabal house leadership and the somewhat more moderate senate leadership have generated back and forth rhetoric, but little in substantive accomplishments.

The House and Senate were able to garner enough votes to send a Keystone XL Pipeline approval bill to the President. However, the White House is likely to veto that measure, and neither the House nor the Senate has the votes whipped up to override a veto.

The repugican Mick Mulvaney (SC-05) summed up repugican underachievement, when, he said, of the pipeline vote:

Is it the most important piece of legislation facing the nation? No. But it is an opportunity for us to prove that we’re able to work with each other and govern, and it is a good test of whether or not the president is interested in doing that as well. We have to learn how to crawl before we can walk, and walk before we can run.

Meanwhile, as the repugicans are still learning to crawl, the nation faces a looming budget shutdown over the funding of Homeland Security. The repugicans are divided over whether to derail funding to punish President Obama, for his executive order on immigration. The repugicans also failed to pass an anti-abortion bill, because although the reagcan cabal congress is almost entirely anti-choice, a few repugicans objected to not exempting rape and incest victims from the bill’s abortion ban.

Many members of the new repugican majority campaigned on ending gridlock in Washington. However, while they proved themselves able campaigners, they have not yet proven they are actually capable of governing.