`Do-Nothing' Label May Haunt Republicans in Congressional Races

[cal04]

Republicans head into the final stretch of what Democrats are calling a ``do-nothing Congress'' that has achieved none of the key items of President George W. Bush's agenda.

Just a year and a half after Republicans increased their majorities in the 2004 elections, Bush's Social Security overhaul plan has been shelved, his vow to restructure the tax code postponed indefinitely and his calls for reshaping medical malpractice long-forgotten. The administration's current major initiative, an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, is hanging by a thread on Capitol Hill.

Republicans may pay a price for their inaction in this November's election, said David Mayhew, a congressional scholar at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ``If they get into September and they still have not done anything on immigration, then they are heavily subject to the charge that they can't tie their shoes,'' he said.

Even Dick Armey, a former Republican House majority leader, is warning of repercussions. ``I'm sure that the Democrats will want to run on the `do-nothing Congress' theme, and my own view is that they probably have some ground to stand on,'' said Armey, 66, who now heads FreedomWorks, a Washington-based group that advocates lower taxes.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=an1q2346r8Gg&refer=

[longship]

1. And the Repugs will blame the Dems' obstructionism.

Boggles the mind, don't it?