August Recess Legislative Wrap-Up

S.397
So the Senate's firearms bill passed easily yesterday despite some good criticism from victims' rights advocates and a worthwhile amendment which was offered up by Jack Reed (D-RI) and promptly defeated. Now as much as any honest businessman, I feel like this country's getting dragged down by a litigious culture; in that vein I applaude efforts to cap medical malpractice. It's a reasonable idea in that it keeps doctors in business - doctors in my home state were draining like IV fluid to neighboring states where the courts weren't so onerous. But all of this is an aside. The Senate should be less than congratulatory on passing S.397 but rather recognize what they've done. They have made sure that gun companies who are less than perfect in ensuring the legitimacy and precaution of dealers they sell to are immune for their mistakes. Rather, leaving manufacturers liable to individual suits would force them to hold their dealers to a higher level of compliance. Not to be. Interesting to note that many of the usual mavericks, McCain included, voted in favor of 397.

HR 6
So we finally have an energy policy of sorts, though goody bag might better describe the bill. My first beef (pork?) with this one is ethanol - farm subsidies in the guise of an energy policy. They'll probably result in gas prices which are 10 cents higher on the coasts, and this at a time of increased oil costs anyways. Does that make sense to anyone? Also notable are the Republicans who voted no - Chafee, Gregg, Kyl, Martinez, McCain, and Sununu. On a state by state basis, both senators from Arizona, Florida, and New Hampshire voted against it. Those of course exclude all those senators who voted against it for purely political reasons. But once again, pork barrel politics and short-sighted partisanship (from both parties) wins the day. Bravo Senators.

So I guess it's been a succesful session, especially if you're a gun manufacturer or a corn grower. I feel like one of these days we're all going to have to say that we're tired of our government spending recklessly and vote otherwise, or just maintain the status quo and take it. Somehow I think we're just going to maintain the status quo.

Byrd Hunting

For those of you who haven't seen it, the NRSC's gotten its first ad of the '06 cycle on the air, targeting Robert Byrd. Check it out here. For those of you who might be wondering "Why Byrd," I'll give you a one-statistic answer. The man hasn't polled less than 60% since Ike was office. That's the 1950s for those of you whose knowledge of American history is sketchy. I'm guessing West Virginia's changed since then, so I'm guessing the politics there need some change too.