Power Cleaning

[dogday]

As Democrats Take Over the House, Republicans' Perks May Go Out the Window

Revenge belongs to the Democrats on Capitol Hill, not that they'd ever take advantage of such a thing. They say they're going to be fair. And nice.

But on the off chance that they might desire just an itty bit of payback, things could get interesting in the House over the next two years. There are a lot of things a newly anointed majority party can do to annoy a minority party, and plenty of reasons they'd want to -- particularly if they've been under the other party's thumb for 12 long years.

Perhaps we shouldn't call this revenge. Perhaps this is just what a party in power does. Dogs chase squirrels, and the majority party in the U.S. House gets to throw its weight around a little.

Here's Dick Armey describing it. Armey, of course, was a big wheel in the Republican leadership the last time this happened, in 1994, when the Republicans won the House after 40 years of being out of power. They were primed for retribution. They had suffered the Democrats' abuse. But Armey doesn't call it abuse. He calls it "good-natured stuff."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/08/AR2006110802477.html

[Freedom_from_Chains]

1. "They say they're going to be fair. And nice"

Politicians say a lot of things about a lot of things. But I never take anything to the bank. It's going to be a long two years. Things change sometime and I suspect this may be one of those times.

[HereSince1628]

2. Being fair will make Dems vulnerable to revenge to revenve charge

Restoring oversight and purging corruption which IS fair, is gonna indict a bunch of R's.

[Vorta]

3. I would really be impressed if the Democratic Congress voted itself a pay cut

and then voted to reduce and then eliminate congressional retirement benefits. Getting elected to national office shouldn't be a lifelong meal ticket.

[smomfr]

4. How about a performance clause and a signed contract some-

thing like pro sports instead of an oath that is often ignored.