Lame Duck Congress?

So Republicans are now passing out oaths to Congressmen asking them to pledge not to engage in any lame duck Congress activity. Ironically, one of those leading the charge is presumptive presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who12 years ago led a lame duck Republican House to impeach Clinton, even as they seemed to lose a number of seats because of the investigation: http://www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&id=2263033. Rumor has it Dems are poised to use the lame duck to pass unpopular legislation like cap and trade, card check and tax increases. Are Republicans right? I have always been troubled by the lame duck sessions myself. The will of the people is enacted primarily through the vote and the fact that legislators and presidents often use those last few months to pass unpopular bills seems to undermind that will. I wish Democrats had the will to pass some of this legislation before the election (except cap and trade, which seems to be a bad idea in its current form -- another windfall for banks), but afterwards it simply seems cowardly at some level. On the other hand, without the ability to steer public discourse in a positive way, one wonders if it would cost them even more seats in the interim election cycle? What continues to confound me is how effective conservatives have been at arguing for essentially returning to the path that got us into this mess, even as unemployment lingers at 10%, the mortgage crisis continues and the economy seems nowhere near a real recovery that positively affects most citizens. Myopia, cynicism and fear seem to define the heart of the problem and why Obama has essentially abandoned the message that won him the election (particularly hope and change) is probably the most upsetting aspect of where we stand today.

On a related note, Target has gotten in trouble in Minnesota for spending large amounts of money to support a far-right candidate that culminated in their stock dropping $1.3 billion in value. But the tone-deaf CEO is listening to Wall Street and ready to keep the engine of corporate greed pushing forward undaunted. At least American companies are thinking in the long term. Unfortunately the long term seems to be about their interests alone, leaving the rest of us out in the cold -- particularly those who allowed Bush to stack the court with conservatives in constitutionalist sheeps clothing offering more and more rights to corporations while taking them away from the average citizen (as with the backtracking on Miranda, among other things). The conservative juggernaut can be relied on for one thing -- hypocritical consistency of message.