Partisan politics in Washington is the norm of the day rather than the exception, and the Democrat-controlled Congress has been battling with the Bush White House all year. But interestingly, the tide on which the Democrats road to power (i.e., the flood of anti-Bush sentiment) has seemingly petered out. According to three national polls released last week, the president’s approval rating is higher than that for Congress:

• ABC/Washington Post, Congress: 32%; Bush: 33%
• Gallup, Congress: 22%; Bush: 37%
• CBS/New York Times, Congress: 21%; Bush: 28%

This is interesting because it puts recent events on the legislative front in context. As Congress tries to complete its work and head home before Christmas, it is hitting White House roadblocks at every turn. The number one priority is to complete the appropriations process. Already, Congress is forced to combine 11 spending bills into one gigantic omnibus package. The original congressional proposal exceeded the president’s proposed budget by $22 billion, prompting a veto threat. Congressional leaders then proposed to split the difference, but the White House did not take the bait. Now, it appears that Congress will reduce their appropriations bills to be in line with the president’s budget.

In addition, despite pressure within the Democratic Party, the package is likely to provide funding for continuing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without any conditions for withdrawal. The president has pledged to veto any legislation that does not provide unfettered funding for the troops, and Congress is expected to overcome internal opposition and provide such funding.

On another topic, it is interesting to note that yet another Presidential veto over the controversial SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) is likely to be sustained. An effort to override the veto was delayed because congressional leaders did not have the votes. NACS opposes the congressional proposal because it seeks to fund a dramatic increase in the program by imposing a significant increase in the federal excise tax on tobacco. Such taxes serve only to bolster tax-evading Internet retailers and increase cigarette theft at convenience stores by those supplying the black market.

Yet again, on energy, the legislation passed by the House last week has been stopped by Senate Republicans who opposed the cost of the bill and the imposition of a renewable energy mandate for electricity producers. Early in the week, the Senate failed to suspend debate and move forward on the bill, forcing that chamber to rewrite the legislation to remove the contentious issues. Another effort to suspend debate on Thursday morning also failed, primarily because of remaining tax provisions even though the electricity provisions were removed. The White House issued another threat to veto the bill if the tax provisions were not in line with the president’s priorities. The Senate anticipated trying again either Friday or Saturday. If the Senate does succumb to the will of the President, the House will be forced to either follow suit or delay action on an energy bill until next year, a move that will carry with it political problems during the winter recess.

In short summary, the battle lines are clearly drawn and, in this long-standing political battle, the White House has gained the upper hand — for now. Next year, of course, will likely bring dynamics that could significantly shift the battle for control back to the Democrats in Congress, but for political observers, this is becoming a very interesting contest.

Special Congressional Elections
Meanwhile, Republicans won additional victories this week in special elections held Tuesday in Ohio and Virginia. Earlier this year, two Republican members of Congress passed away, creating opportunities for new legislators to emerge. Despite some hope from Democrats that they could score some upsets with low voter turnout typical of most special elections, Republican candidates were elected to both positions.

In Ohio, state Representative Bob Latta, received 57 percent of the vote compared to Democrat Robin Weirauch’s 43 percent. This victory was considered by many to be a major triumph for the Republican party because the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had invested significant funds into the contest and, just one week before the election, Weirauch was polling far ahead of Latta. Meanwhile, in Virginia, the heavily favored state legislator Rob Wittman received 61 percent of the vote over Democrat Philip Forgit’s 36 percent.

Family Medical Leave Update
This week the House and Senate agreed on a conference report for the Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization Act, which includes language to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for family caregivers of injured service members. Also affected are those employees who have a family member that has been called or notified they will be called to active duty. While almost all retailers provide assistance and flexibility to members of our armed forces that have been injured or have been called up for duty, the language of the bill is very open ended.

In short, this language adds two qualifying events for FMLA leave providing:

• 12 weeks of FMLA leave because of any qualifying exigency (as the Secretary shall by regulation determine) arising out of the fact that the spouse, son, daughter or parent of the employee is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the armed forces in support of a contingency operation.
• 26 weeks of FMLA leave during a single 12-month period to an eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin caring for a combat-wounded service member.

Both the House and Senate were likely to consider and pass the DOD authorization conference report this week.

That’s it from Washington. Have a great weekend!

John Eichberger
Vice President, Government Relations