Happy New Year!

Now get to work.

As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign
pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking.
House Democrats intend to pass a raft of popular measures as part of their well-publicized plan for the first 100 hours. They include tightening ethics rules for lawmakers, raising the minimum wage, allowing more research on stem cells and cutting interest rates on student loans.

Do I care if the Republicans are sidelined? Not at all. These are the same rules that the Republican party has used for years, and this is legislation that has been promised to the American people and needs to be passed. If Republicans were allowed into the process they would mangle any effort to make serious progress in this country and then blame the Democrats for not accomplishing anything. But the Republicans are adults and they can take a taste of their own medicine, right?

House Republicans have begun to complain that Democrats are backing away from
their promise to work cooperatively. They are working on their own strategy for
the first 100 hours, and part of it is built on the idea that they might be able
to break the Democrats' slender majority by wooing away some conservative
Democrats.

Ha ha, just kidding.

Republicans controlled the House for the past 12 years and did not accomplish anything. Their time is over.