Dems Get Down To Business On Capitol Hill

Legislation aimed at stifling the budget deficit could bedevil its Democratic proponents enjoying their new majority status in the House as well as Republican opponents.

A proposed law known as the "pay as you go" rule is being pushed to the top of the agenda of the Democratic-controlled House with little support from Republicans.

If strictly enforced, the PAYGO rule to be debated Friday would make it difficult for Democrats to pass increases in federal benefit programs such as Medicare. It would also threaten efforts to extend President Bush's tax cuts, most of which expire at the end of 2010.

House lawmakers are also expected to consider a new rule requiring them to attach their names to any home state projects they obtain in spending bills in hopes that such disclosure would prevent scandals in which members of Congress trade such "earmarks" for bribes, campaign cash or other favors.

Democrats back in the majority on Capitol Hill have committed themselves to a shopping list of legislative priorities for their first 100 hours and are no doubt feeling the pressure as they settle into the driver's seats for the first time in 12 years.

A says Americans are generally optimistic about the new Democratic-controlled Congress. But half the public doubts that President Bush and the Democrats will be able to work together to get things done — including dealing with the situation in Iraq.

The PAYGO and earmark proposals come a day after Democrats officially took control of Congress, with a jubilant Nancy Pelosi becoming the first woman ever to become speaker of the House.

"This is an historic moment - for the Congress, and for the women of this country," Pelosi said Thursday when she took the House gavel. "It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years."

Women also moved a step ahead in the Senate, where Harry Reid of Nevada was elected Majority Leader and Patty Murray of Washington State became secretary of the Democratic Caucus.

She's the only woman in the party leadership for the Senate, but downplayed that status as reporters tried to elicit comments on the subject.

"I don't see myself as a woman in leadership," said the former pre-school teacher, who is in her third term of office. "I'm a senator from Washington, and if I can speak out for people who don't have a voice - whether it's health care policy or Iraq - that's even better."

As Speaker of the House, Pelosi, D-Calif., will exert vast influence over the congressional agenda and stands second in the line of succession to the presidency.

Pelosi's first act as speaker was to orchestrate bipartisan 430-1 passage of a measure banning lawmakers from accepting gifts and free trips from lobbyists and discounted trips on private planes. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., cast the sole "nay" vote.

The vote, said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., amounted to "sweeping ethics reforms that begin to address some of the most egregious transgressions of the recent past."

Republicans are expected to support Democrats' efforts to require greater disclosure of lawmakers' earmarks. The Democratic effort largely mirrored a GOP plan passed last year in the wake of the Randy "Duke" Cunningham scandal, in which the former California GOP congressman pleaded guilty to corruption charges for channeling earmarks to defense contractors in exchange for $2.4 million in bribes. Lesser scandals have hit other lawmakers.

"I give them kudos," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a fierce but sometimes quixotic foe of Congress' earmarking ways.

However, most Republicans were likely to resist the Democrats' move to reimpose the PAYGO rule requiring tax cuts or spending increases in entitlement programs such as Medicare or farm subsidies to be "paid for" with tax increases or spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.

"The PAYGO stuff wreaks havoc on tax cuts," Flake said.

Democratic budget hawks, especially the moderate-to-conservative "Blue Dogs," say that restoring the rule is crucial to curbing the budget deficit. Various forms of PAYGO were in place from 1990-2002, however, and Congress often found ways around it.

The version up for a vote Friday can easily be waived. Still, the incoming chairman of the Budget Committee, John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., touted it as better than the status quo.

"You've got to offset those tax cuts," Spratt said. "And if you want to enhance an entitlement, you've got to pay for it."

Democrats left in place - for now - a GOP rule limiting committee chairmen to three two-year terms.

Thursday, as Democrats celebrated their return to power, Pelosi made a promise.

"I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship, and look forward to working with you on behalf of the American people," said Pelosi. "In this House, we may belong to different parties, but we serve one country."

Both Democrats and Republicans have pledged cooperation despite years of bitter partisanship and gridlock, to try to get the 110th Congress off on a productive note.

The first hours of the new Democratic-held House were devoted to Pelosi's election and remarks — for which the Californian received numerous standing ovations, especially from the House's record 71 women lawmakers, thrilled that one of their own had finally ascended to the speakership. Some of the women senators also came to the House side to cheer Pelosi's history-shattering moment.

"This is an historic moment — for the Congress, and for the women of this country," Pelosi said. "It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years."

On the other end of the Capitol, Sen. Harry Reid, a soft-spoken but tough inside player — took the reins of the notoriously unwieldy Senate, promising to "work in a bipartisan basis in an open fashion to solve the problems of the American people."

Addressing his colleagues Thursday afternoon, Reid vowed to get the Senate back on track after an unproductive past two years.

"Last November, the voters sent us a message — Democrats and Republicans," Reid said. "The voters are upset with Congress and the partisan gridlock. The voters want a government that focuses on their needs. The voters want change. Together, we must deliver that change."

"The Democrats are back," said Pelosi. She will lead a fractious House divided 233-202, with Democrats claiming control for the first time since 1994.

Democrats maintain a tenuous hold on a Senate divided 51-49, with ailing Democrat Tim Johnson slowly recovering in a Washington hospital weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage. There are 49 Democrats and 49 Republicans and two independents, who both vote with Democrats.