At a small gathering on Capitol Hill last night, White House Political Director Ken Mehlman made a great point: Every incoming President gets his "First Hundred Days" to lay out an agenda, get it up to the Hill and get as much of it adopted as he can.
Most Presidents start the second two years of their first term scaling back plans that they might have had going into the mid-term elections.
Ronald Reagan's first mid-term was a disaster for the GOP. The "working majority" which President
Reagan enjoyed during the first two years of his Administration disappeared in the 26-seat loss in the elections of 1982.
The 1994 election - President Clinton's first mid-term - was historic and caused him to have to hold a news conference to declare that he was "still relevant" to the process of governing. The legislative victories which Mr. Clinton enjoyed were largely Republican issues which he "triangulated" into his own.
Mr. Mehlman then pointed out that President George W. Bush, because of the results of the elections last November, will have the opportunity for a "Second First Hundred Days."
The first major initiative was the economic stimulus package which the President rolled out over last weekend and officially announced on Tuesday. Naturally, the National Punditry and the National Democrats have been all over the cable gravely announcing it has no chance.
Two years ago, during the FIRST "First Hundred Days," after the President sent his tax cut package to the Hill, the National Punditry and the National Democrats proclaimed gravely that it had no chance.
On June 7, 2001 the President signed the $1.35 Trillion tax cut.
It is true that the original package the President sent to the hill was $1.6 Trillion.
But the number the Democrats had started with was $250 Billion during the campaign. That grew to $900 Billion before they caved on the President's number.
The National Democrats and the national media keep trying to convince themselves that the Trent Lott issue did serious damage to the President and the Republican party in December. Just as they spent most of November trying to convince themselves that the results of the mid-term elections did NOT do serious damage to the Democratic party.
The President has already talked about a major restructuring of Medicare. We have to assume there will be other initiatives in the pipeline between now and the end of the Second First Hundred Days.
The first week of the 108th Congress was largely given over to housekeeping and fussing over committee ratios and who gets a chauffer-driven car and who doesn't. Hint: Senator Robert Byrd, the "Conscience of the Senate" who is no longer the President Pro Tempore wants to keep his limo.
Anyone have a phone number for Jack Welch?
The first dust up in the Senate came on the first piece of legislation when the bill to extend unemployment
benefits came to the floor having been agreed to by Hillary Rodham Clinton Rodham on behalf of the Democrats and by
Don Nickles on behalf of the Republicans.
Brand new Majority Leader, Bill Frist, asked for unanimous consent that the bill be adopted (avoiding a roll call vote) but Rodham Clinton Rodham did object - sort of. That led a bunch of Democrats to jump into the fray until one of them DID formally object.
The most charitable version of the story is that Mrs. Clinton's caucus was not happy with the bill (which was more generous than the bill they themselves had proposed last December) and she was simply trying to express their reservations without formally objecting.
The least charitable version is Mrs. Clinton wanted to break the deal and this was the best way of doing it.
The bill passed but I guarantee you that no leader of a legislative body in any country in the history of the world ever looked back on his first day at the helm and said, "It's like my first heart transplant," which were the words of Senator Bill Frist, MD.
On the Secret Decoder Ring today: A quick discussion of the First Hundred Days business, a good catchy caption, and a Mullfoto of a secret headquarters .
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