Impact of the 111th Congress by Don Kornreich

Don Kornreich Impact of the 111th Congress Originally published January 09, 2011  http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_comments_columnist.htm?section=dKornreich&storyID=114923#postComments

Hat Tip: Steve Berryman: http://www.mediahooker1.blogspot.com/

The 111th Congress is no more. The November elections appeared to confirm what the "public" believed about the 111th Congress: overwhelmingly disapproving of its performance -- with only 13 percent giving it a positive rating. The elections gave the Republicans a significant majority in the House and more seats (although not a majority) in the Senate.

Yet the Democratic-controlled 111th Congress did not rest on its laurels in the final weeks of its session. To the contrary, it actively, and to a large extent successfully, pursued its agenda during the postelection "lame-duck" session. As a result, legislation was enacted extending, for another two years, the tax rate reductions passed during the Bush presidency. The underpinning for the extension is the belief that they will be a strong and productive economic stimulus to begin to reduce our lingering high unemployment rate, which as of November was 9.8 percent.

There remains to be dealt with the impact of the rate reductions on our growing national debt and annual budget deficits. It will be up to the 112th Congress to find a way to offset the budget deficits. As a result, in my opinion, reducing the amount of federal spending will be at the core of a lot that will be the concern of the new Congress....http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_comments_columnist.htm?section=dKornreich&storyID=114923#postComments

  

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