Words, words - pretty words. Somehow when the shift of power occurs all the pledges of goodwill fly out the window. When the Republicans took over the majority of the House and Senate in the 1994 mid-term election, the ironic sentiments were "come, let us reason together" and "pledges of bi-partisan support". References to FDR and The New Deal were bandied around like party favors. It was okay for the Republicans to be "big spirited" and "loving to the opposition" because it was okay to say those things - they were in power now and it was good to pretend there was unity everywhere.
The lofty ideals of the 104th Congress didn't last very long. By the end of 1995 the Government had ground to a halt. Newt Gingrich had quietly abandoned his pursuit of the 1996 Presidential race and government spending increased. The deregulation sped quickly - the fruits of those labors are haunting us today. Some legacies are just like the gift that keeps on giving.
And all those pretty words just ring forever . . .
"The greatest Democratic President of the 20th century, and in my judgement the greatest President of the 20th Century, said it right on March 4, 1933 when he stood in the braces at a time when a man who had polio . . .at a time when nobody with that kind of disability could be anything in public life, and he was President of the United States, and he stood in front of this Capitol on a rainy March day and he said "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself". I believe if every one of us will reach out in that spirit . . on a bi-partisan basis . . ."
