If you listen to what the Republicans are spewing out of their little rat holes these days, you would think the Democrats have not gotten shit done since they took over Congress. Republicans are on the attack because they have nothing else to run on in 2008. Democrats are polling better on every issue, even terrorism, so stick them with the label of lazy and hope for the best. Last week, Senator Jon Kyl issued talking points to his Republican hordes and they lapped it up.

Senate Republicans are preparing to take aim at Majority Leader Harry Reid over the August recess for being "all talk but no action" and helping drag the Democrat-led Congress' approval rating to a historic low, according to a document distributed to caucus members.

Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, is meeting with members yesterday and today to disseminate a message critical of Democrats for endlessly debating the Iraq war, stalling judicial nominations and squandering time on at least 300 investigations of the Bush administration.

"We really ought to be asking why this Democrat leadership won't allow Congress to move forward on serious policy debates," Mr. Kyl said, when asked about the talking-points memorandum he is circulating.

"Americans have been disappointed by a majority leadership that stages one show debate after another, while the only consistent legislative work getting done is the renaming of post offices."

The Republican machine went to work. Fox News ran with the story as fast as possible. The right wing blogs helped spread the word, while the President and Tony Snow spewed their bile.

What you have right now is partisanship on Capitol Hill that quite often boils down to insults, insinuations, inquisitions and investigations, rather than pursuing the normal business of trying to pass major pieces of legislation, such as appropriations bills.

Of course, the truth is entirely different than what Republicans want you to believe. From a minimum wage increase to help for veterans, the Democrats have actually done a decent job with a slim one-seat majority.

Democrats Passed First Minimum Wage Increase in a Decade. The nation's lowest-paid workers will soon find extra money in their pockets as the minimum wage rises 70 cents to $5.85 an hour today, the first increase in a decade. It ends the longest span without a federal minimum wage increase since it was enacted in 1938. The previous increase came in September 1997, when a bill signed by President Bill Clinton raised the minimum 40 cents, to $5.15 an hour. Legislation signed by President Bush in May increases the wage 70 cents each summer until 2009, when all minimum-wage jobs will pay no less than $7.25 an hour. [Associated Press, 7/24/07]

Democrats Passed War Spending Bill that Included $6 Billion for Hurricane Relief. The war spending bill provides about $95 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30 and billions in domestic projects, including more than $6 billion for hurricane relief. [Associated Press, 5/25/07]

Democrats Passed Wounded Warriors Bill to Upgrade Military Health Care and Provide a 3.5% Pay Raise for Our Troops. Senate Democrats scored a crucial pre-recess legislative win Wednesday, as a veterans healthcare measure and military pay raise previously attached to the stalled defense authorization bill passed unanimously. Republicans sought to add the 3.5 percent pay increase to the healthcare bill, dubbed the Wounded Warriors Act, before allowing immediate passage of the package. [The Hill, 7/26/07]

Democrats Passed Legislation Out of Committee Providing the Largest Increase for Veterans Affairs Funding in History. House and Senate appropriators are both confidently moving forward with their proposals to give the Veterans Affairs Department its largest-ever budget increase to address the increasing health care needs of veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House passed its version of the fiscal 2008 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill (HR 2642) June 15 by a vote of 409-2. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 28-1, its draft version on June 14. [CQ Today, 6/15/07]

Iraq Supplemental Appropriations Bill Included Additional $1.8 Billion for Veterans Health Care. The House and Senate approved the $120 billion package yesterday. The president had requested $103 billion, but Congress added additional spending requirements to increase veterans health care programs by $1.8 billion, military construction and realignment by almost $5 billion, and homeland security by more than $1 billion. [VFW Press Release, 5/25/07]

Democrats Passed Bill to Implement 9/11 Commission Recommendations. The Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation yesterday to implement many of the remaining reforms suggested by the Sept. 11 commission, answering its three-year-old call for better emergency communications; more money for cities at high risk of terrorist attacks; and tighter security for air cargo, ports, chemical plants and rail systems. [Washington Post, 3/14/07]

Democrats Passed Ethics and Lobbying Reform Bill. Senate Democrats and Republicans broke a difficult stalemate last night and approved 96 to 2 expansive legislation to curtail the influence of lobbyists, tighten congressional ethics rules and prevent the spouses of senators from lobbying senators and their staffs. The Senate legislation, hailed by proponents as the most significant ethics reform since Watergate, would ban gifts, meals and travel funded by lobbyists, and would force lawmakers to attach their names to special-interest provisions and pet projects that they slip into bills. Lawmakers would have to pay charter rates on corporate jets, not the far-cheaper first-class rates they pay now. [Washington Post, 1/19/07]

Democrats Passed Bill to Cut Subsidies to Student Lenders and Provide $17 Billion in Grants and Other Student Aid. The Senate overwhelmingly approved a wide-ranging overhaul of student loan programs early today that would pay for more than $17 billion in grants and other student aid by slashing subsidies to lending companies. Democrats and student advocates said the legislation, which passed in a 78 to 18 vote, would help millions of Americans pay for college in a time of steady and often steep tuition increases. [Washington Post, 7/19/07]

Democrats Passed a Bill to Better Regulate the Student Loan Industry. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts made the comments shortly after senators passed legislation (S 1642) to reauthorize the primary law governing colleges, universities and federal aid by an overwhelming margin of 95-0. The underlying bill would increase the amount of information that schools and lenders must provide to students including up-front disclosure of loan rates and terms and data on total school costs and would ban lenders from giving schools financial aid funds or any other perks to get on a preferred lender list. The bill would require colleges and universities to draft codes of conduct governing relationships with lenders; shorten the application form for federal student aid; and authorize a pilot program to allow students to learn the total aid they can expect to receive up to two years in advance. [CQ Today, 7/24/07]

Democrats Passed a Fiscally Responsible Budget. Congress gave final approval on Thursday to a $2.9 trillion budget plan that promises big spending increases for education and health care and a federal surplus in five years Democrats said their budget measure would put the government $41 billion in the black by 2012, after steady deficits since 2002. They said the measure also would reversing Bush's clampdown on domestic agencies' annual budgets passed by Congress The budget plan would lock in a promise by Democrats to restore pay-as-you-go rules. Republicans abandoned these in 2001 to pass Bush's tax cuts. [Associated Press, 5/17/07]

Democrats Passed Energy Bill That Increased Fuel-Efficiency Standards for First Time Since 1975. The Senate passed a sweeping energy legislation package last night that would mandate the first substantial change in the nation's vehicle fuel-efficiency law since 1975 despite opposition from auto companies and their Senate supporters The package, which still must pass the House, would also require that the use of biofuels climb to 36 billion gallons by 2022, would set penalties for gasoline price-gouging and would give the government new powers to investigate oil companies' pricing. It would provide federal grants and loan guarantees to promote research into fuel-efficient vehicles and would support test projects to capture carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants to be stored underground. [Washington Post, 6/22/07]

Even Republican Ray LaHood took time out to praise the Democrats for their work leading the 110th Congress.

"They've had a pretty strong quarter," said Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), who praised the insurance bill as "creative" and suggested the homeland security bill would pass overwhelmingly. "The first quarter was not so good, and that's why they're not looking so good in the polls, but this quarter is looking very good for them. They can send their members home crowing about their accomplishments, and they've done it in a bipartisan way, which is exactly what they promised to do.

If youre surprised to hear a Republican giving the Democrats props, there is a reason. Politicians tend to start telling the truth when they are retiring. This is LaHoods last term in Congress.

Youll be hearing the term Do Nothing Congress from Republicans until the 2008 elections. They seem to have forgotten that they have only one seat less than Democrats, which makes them just as culpable for any lack of legislation. But that wont stop them. The idiots can literally shut down Congress and then blame the Democrats - just as the Founding Fathers planned. It's something to take pride in if you are a Republican. At least they have their priorities all figured out: Republican first, American second.

scylis

USA

November 2004

JUL 30, 2007 09:49 AM

those craptastical layabouts! they should all be fired! removed from office! beaten in the streets for their laziness and their hypocritical bullhonkery!

i'm talking about you, obstructionist Republicans!

slayn001

United Kingdom

February 2005

JUL 30, 2007 10:25 AM

you know, kind of offtopic, but does anyone else really really hate tony snow? i can't hear the man's name without becoming irate, he bothers me almost as much as gonzo.

freshprncebelair

Ellicott City, MD

June 2004

JUL 30, 2007 10:48 AM

Kudos on starting to reform the student loan issue, and trying to get the government back in the black ink

Rafi

Santa Monica, CA

January 2003

JUL 30, 2007 10:59 AM

slayn001 said:
you know, kind of offtopic, but does anyone else really really hate tony snow? i can't hear the man's name without becoming irate, he bothers me almost as much as gonzo.

Does anybody not really really hate Tony Snow?

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

JUL 30, 2007 11:48 AM

Rafi said:

slayn001 said:
you know, kind of offtopic, but does anyone else really really hate tony snow? i can't hear the man's name without becoming irate, he bothers me almost as much as gonzo.

Does anybody not really really hate Tony Snow?

I was going to say his mom, but I saw him on CNN and could swear I saw a puncture wound from a coat hanger on his noggin.

-TM

slayn001

United Kingdom

February 2005

JUL 30, 2007 03:46 PM

Rafi said:

slayn001 said:
you know, kind of offtopic, but does anyone else really really hate tony snow? i can't hear the man's name without becoming irate, he bothers me almost as much as gonzo.

Does anybody not really really hate Tony Snow?

i don't know, i mean, he's not actually in charge on anything, so you can't really say that the shitty stuff happening is his fault, but then again, how could any decent person actually say the stuff he says without going home and eating a bullet.

WADO

Brooklyn, NY

March 2006

JUL 30, 2007 04:43 PM

xazapdmytinu

Fort Collins, CO

July 2007

JUL 30, 2007 05:11 PM

ahahaha! Democrats...Asses! Get it?!

attn_ho

Brooklyn, NY

February 2004

JUL 30, 2007 05:50 PM

well, truthfully, the republicans have done just as much as the democrats. its just that everything a democrat proposes to help the american people, a republican stops for thier mega-million overlords.

[/PARTIZEEN RHETTORIK LOLZ!!!!1!]