Power vs Finesse – The Real Test of Congressional Leadership

It impresses me that the House Democrats achieved their “6 for 06″ goals with so much GOP cross over. It is relatively less impressive to achieve something like this with only sheer force. But now that the initial agenda is achieved, the ability to legislate moves to a higher standard, that of withstanding debate, conference committees and vetos.

The political talent and skill I am hoping to witness is the ability to collaborate on trans-partisan refinements. Can the minimum wage bill, which can be argued to be more symbolic that practical, be fleshed out with pragmatic reforms on behalf of small business operators? How about relieving small businesses of the responsibility for health care by encouraging staff to own their policies? How about making wage and hours regulations more flexible? How about letting small businesses decide if the best way to serve and keep their customers is to ban trans fats and smoking? Likewise can the modest reduction in college loan interest be leveraged into broader reforms to help lower the cost for more students? Can the Medicare Drug revision be expanded to allow legal purchases from overseas and to allow the relatively smaller Medicare insurers pool together to negotiate with the much larger drug companies?

After the initial agenda of “6 in 06″ I am hoping the Leadership of both parties seizes the rare confluence of bi-partisan pressure and expectations to take on the normally untouchable challenges of Social Security, Tax reform and even non-partisan redistricting reform. These are the kinds of gifts to the American People that keep on giving.

I am looking forward to watching which legislators are merely intractable partisans and which have the ability to help blend visions of opportunity and fairness with fiscally efficient remedies.