Still No Egypt Resolution

The Senate today adjourned after voting on an amendment to the Federal Aviation Reauthorization bill. Senate Democrats are heading south to Charlottesville, Virginia for their annual retreat. We had expected that they would be back late Wednesday or Thursday for more votes — particularly on a resolution on Egypt. But, the galleries tell us that though a few members will return to resume debate on the FAA bill on Thursday, no votes will now be held until next Monday. The House is waiting on the Senate to pass the resolution and send it to them.

Josh Rogin at Foreign Policy magazine has a good take on the political pot holes that blew the axles off the last attempt at a resolution in support of democracy in Egypt — something, one would imagine would be kind of a no brainer, but there’s Congress for you. And Chris Good over at the Atlantic notes that several Egypt resolutions have died similarly tortured deaths. This week part of the problem is timing, but one does have to ask: how hard is it for Congress to pass a resolution in support of the Egyptian people?

The Phony War: Obama and Romney Are Debating Character, Not Policy

More than five months from Election Day, the back-and-forth about Mitt Romney’s record at Bain already feels played out. Unfortunately, there’s good reason to expect the campaign continues in this vein indefinitely. Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney are terribly interested in dwelling on policy platforms. Romney’s plan to slash spending and keep taxes low on the wealthy isn’t especially popular, at least not at any level of detail beyond a blithe promise to shrink the deficit. Meanwhile, Obama’s signature first-term achievements, like health care, the stimulus and Wall Street reform, are all unpopular or tricky to sell. (The Dodd-Frank bill is the most popular of these, but hyping it means offending wealthy donors.) So what we’re getting instead is a superficial duel about character–and, worse, one that’s based on the largely false premise that the better man can better “manage” the economy back to health.

Audacity of Dope: Tales of a Toking Teenage Obama

We knew Barack Obama smoked weed in high school because he wrote about it in his books. What we didn’t know until Buzzfeed posted these choice nuggets (I’m so sorry) from David Maraniss’s new book on the President’s younger years, is the giggle-worthy details of his “Choom Gang” lifestyle, which are right out of a buddy stoner flick. Obama and his friends drove around the lush Hawaii countryside, hot-boxing their VW bus and re-upping with a long-haired pizza-tossing dealer named Ray, who Obama thanked in his yearbook “for all the good times.”

afguy

how hard is it for Congress to pass a resolution in support of the Egyptian people?
.
Because, at the State Department level, we’re NOT actually for the Egyptian people, but rather for a resolution (or leader) that won’t complicate our (or Israel’s) goals?
.
We’d rather have ONE point-of-contact and influence there.
liberalmeltdown

“but one does have to ask: how hard is it for Congress to pass a resolution in support of the Egyptian people?”

.
You wouldn’t want to ask why the Obama administration’s policy is so two faced. You wouldn’t want to ask why they didn’t support the Iranian people’s protests.
.
Maybe the Congress doesn’t want to support the radical Islam of the Muslim Brotherhood. They’re only terrorists. It would be like adopting a resolution to support the KKK, the Mob, and Jim Jones all rolled into one.
afguy

A group photo in Washington right now would show LOTS of people waiting, with fingers raised to sample the political winds in Egypt.
.
Rest assured, whichever way the situation goes, with the people or if a strongman arises friendly to our wishes, the Congressional resolution will read, “We were with you all the way”.
http://grapemusing.blogspot.com/ grape_crush

…how hard is it for Congress to pass a resolution in support of the Egyptian people?

Why is important to do so? What would issuing an official position statement do?

Oh, and this:
53_3

JNS:
.
Why can’t congress pass a law?
.
This is way too easy!
.
You see, the Senate has all the smoke and the House has all the mirrors…
53_3

Which of course, begs the question:
.
Just what people is congress going to be neutrally against being for?
newfreedomblog

Perhaps the problem is leadership. When the President is unable to make up his mind which way the wind is blowing, why would our Congress want to step in and make him look like a fool?
http://shortplaysaboutrealpeople.wordpress.com Michael Maiello

Yeah, this would be kind of weird. Seems like congress should defer to the executive here and that the executive is taking a cautious, measured, approach. Do we want to ease Mubarak peacefully out of power or do we want potentially detrimental congressional resolutions?