Is there a learning curve for the GOP after an election in which they lost moderate, centrists and independents nearly as fast as Michael Richards lost fans?
While they still can, House Republicans are looking at scheduling a vote next week on a fetal pain abortion bill in a parting shot at incoming majority Democrats and a last bid for loyalty from the GOP’s base of social conservatives.
The measure is tentatively on House GOP leaders’ list of bills to be considered in a lame-duck session before Democrats assume control of Congress. It has no chance of passing the Senate during the waning days of Republican control. But, with Democrats ascending to agenda-setting roles, passage isn’t the point, said one conservative leader.
“Next year, the leadership of the House will be hardcore pro-abortion loyalists,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee. “They will block votes on even modest pro-life measures like this one.”
The vote would be the first on the measure, which was introduced in September and referred to a health subcommittee, where no action on it was taken. Johnson said his group wants a House vote to test support for the measure.
Is this a stunt by Borat?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.