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Speculation:
In spite of the oncoming Democratic Party victory being anticipated in November, odds are that Very Bad Bills like this one will continue to happen for the forseeable future, in spite of Obama, in spite of Democratic control of both houses and WH.
Why:
1. Even as the Democratic Party grows its majority, it moves as a whole to the right. These seats being picked up are mostly conservative members. These members will not share a progressive or civil-libertarian perspective.
2. The House will increasingly become a battleground among democrats, rather than between democrats and republicans. In other words, it will increasingly be a three way fight, not a two way fight. The blue dogs will be in a very powerful position as they will represent the swing vote on many, many bills. Put another way, Democratic leadership will first have to compromise with the republicans in their own party, prior to compromising more, with the Republicans in the opposition party.
3. The senate will continue to be a place where good legislation "goes to die", but bad legislation sometimes makes it through.
4. Obama will attempt to change the tone in Washington by "cooperation and working together". This is his central theme in the campaign. As GG has pointed out many times, legislative 'compromise' consists of giving conservatives everything they want, or at least it has for this edition of Congress.
So, even if the media trumpets a resounding democratic victory come November, it may well turn out that the failures characterizing this congress, the 110th, will be even more glaring in the new congress that begins in January '09. There is a likelihood for many, many more stinging defeats in the next 3 years. Therefore there may be a need to take a longer view, among those who are trying to form a true opposition to what appears to be a galactic slide to the right.
