After many years of watching the Congress operate between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I've come to the conclusion that it would be better for lawmakers to arrive back on Capitol Hill about eight days before Christmas, and then try to cram all of their work into that short time frame.
That's because the prelude to that final cram session - like last week and this week in the Congress - usually just features finger pointing, blame game and partisan maneuvering, rather than a lot of negotiating.
We saw a bit more of that on Tuesday as House Republicans made clear that they won't bring a payroll tax cut extension bill to the floor until next week - with the goal of getting all of Congress' work done by December 16.
Just a reminder of what hasn't been finished:
- An extension of the expiring payroll tax cut
- Extension of long term jobless benefits
- Passage of eight unfinished spending bills
- Temporary patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax
- Another short term extension of the Medicare "Doc Fix"
- Another extension of the so-called "Tax Extenders" Those are just the highlights. There's more than that which the Congress could get done by December 23, which is the date that curmedgeons in the Press Gallery like me believe may be the earliest possible end of this year's session, as working on Christmas Eve is becoming almost normal. "I may be getting a divorce if that's the case," said a chuckling Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). "My wife is ready for me to get home before Christmas Eve one year," Chambliss added. Just a few feet away from Chambliss stood Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) with a bright Christmas tie on - he was wearing it on Tuesday for a reason. "Last year, they (his holiday ties) were all in Omaha, and I didn't get to wear one," said Nelson to laughter from reporters, "so last weekend I brought several back so I can wear them." A few hours later, Speaker John Boehner helped light the Capitol Christmas Tree on a rainy but somewhat warm evening. It might have been the highlight of the week for the Speaker. "As Boehner told me last night," said Sen. Chambliss, "he's already told Harry Reid if we are here beyond the 16th, it is going to be very, very ugly." "I have every reason to suspect that is true," Chambliss added with a shrug. Maybe it's time for the solution often proposed by former Rep. Jim Traficant of Ohio, who used to say the only way to cut a deal in Congress was to lock the negotiators in a room and feed them chocolate and Ex-Lax. And, Traficant would say with a big grin, to help promote a deal, you lock the doors and don't let anyone go to the bathroom. Just 13 business days left until Christmas Eve. Again.
