Lame duck

Michael at AmericaBlog points out that, for a lame duck, Bush had a pretty good week last week.

Here's the list, along with how Oregon Senators and Reps voted:

After some shameless arm-twisting, and a change of rules allowing House members less than 20 seconds apiece to speak on the bill, the Central America Free Trade Act (CAFTA) is now positioned to do to Central Americans what NAFTA did for Mexico. And American workers will recognize the giant sucking sound.

David Wu (D) No
Earl Blumenauer (D) No
Peter A. DeFazio (D No
Darlene Hooley (D) No

Ron Wyden (D) Yes
Gordon Smith (R) Yes

Senate approval of a bill shielding gun manufacturers from lawsuits by shooting victims. As one Democratic Senator pointed out, "Nobody is going out and getting shot so they can bring a lawsuit. This legislation would bar the door to courthouses for real people."

Ron Wyden (D) No
Gordon Smith (R) Not voting

(The House is expected to pass this bill handily when they return from August vacation.)

A transportation bill filled with heart-stopping levels of pork to help the midterm elections go smoothly. Thank goodness the needs of Alaskan documentary filmmakers and Vermont snowmobilers are finally being looked after.

David Wu (D) Yes
Earl Blumenauer (D) Yes
Greg Walden (R) Yes
Peter A. DeFazio (D Yes
Darlene Hooley (D) Yes

Ron Wyden (D) Yes
Gordon Smith (R) Yes

An energy bill filled with pork for corporations but no hint of change in policy or direction on conservation, alternative energy sources, etc.

David Wu (D) No
Earl Blumenauer (D) No
Greg Walden (R) Yes
Peter A. DeFazio (D No
Darlene Hooley (D) No

Ron Wyden (D) No
Gordon Smith (R) Yes

And Senate approval of the Patriot Act renewal, which the Washington Post oddly describes as a "defeat" for Bush, simply because he didn't get every single toy on his Christmas list:

The vote, by unanimous consent in the GOP-controlled Senate, marks a defeat for the Bush administration, which campaigned heavily for total renewal of the law and opposed efforts to enact any new restrictions on government powers.

And this morning, it became official: John Bolton, a Florida Recount War alumnus and nominee so toxic that even the GOP-controlled Senate wouldn't touch him, received a booby-prize appointment as ambassador to the United Nations.

So, despite his sinking poll numbers, the increasing unpopularity and doubts about his war of choice in Iraq, and the drip-by-drip water torture of Rovegate revelations, don't count Bush out just yet. True, as Paul Krugman notes,

the administration is getting nowhere on its grand policy agenda. But it never took policy, as opposed to politics, very seriously anyway. The agenda it has always taken with utmost seriousness - consolidating one-party rule, and rewarding its friends - is moving forward quite nicely.

Bush's string of recent victories has a tie-in to the recent departure of Teamsters and SEIU from the AFL-CIO. The split came over the question of priorities: Should the unions use their money and muscle to lobby, or to build memberships up from their current historic lows? David Sirota sees some good to be fetched out of the evil of these times, asking the question: Should the unions and progressives keep giving money to Democrats to vote against their interests? Sirota says no, and he's not alone.

It's a pretty compelling argument, in several ways. But I've always had misgivings about one of the underlying themes: Ruthlessness works for the Repubs, and they're winning, therefore Dems should copy them. After all, rigid party discipline is the fertile ground from which much of the current GOP corruption springs.

Discuss.