Looking for hope in chaos and deception-Congress/Vaccine immunity

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http://www.delmarvanow.com/deweybeach/stories/20051228/2236330.html Delaware Coast Press Email this story Looking for hope in chaos and deception By Joyce

MullinsWe're in this together In her dreams Lady Macbeth acknowledged her guilt. "Out, damned spot! Out, I say," she cried, but we knew the hands she wrung were stained forever. Unfortunately too few in Congress are losing sleep over disgraceful behavior in the last embattled hours before the Christmas -- or should I say "the holiday?" -- break. I've never seen such trickery as we witnessed in both the House and Senate in the chaotic days before the recess. Chief among the "tricks" was the sneaky way Alaska's Sen. Ted s tried to ramrod his longtime dream to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) when his legitimate attempts to get

it passed failed. What he did was "bundle" or "attach" ANWR at the last minute to the must-pass Defense Appropriations Bill. Fortunately, his efforts were blocked -- this time. Unscrupulous politicians have "attached" unrelated measures to must-pass bills before. Sen. Frist attached protection for manufacturers of vaccines to the Homeland Security Bill in 2002. It was repealed a year later. This year he tried it again, bundling vaccine makers' immunity against accountability and liability into that same Defense Appropriations Bill. The last minute flimflams came faster this year than snowflakes in a blizzard. It was piled on with such a bold disregard for principle it was breathtaking. I watched some of the debate on the merciless move in the House to cut funding for health care, education and even the program that assures needy children get the child support they need. Like a wolf in sheep's woolies, this move pretended to "save"

money when all it really did was protect tax breaks for the rich. More than 100 religious activists who came to Washington to protest what they called the "immoral" budget were arrested for their efforts. A narrow majority in the House decided the poor could withstand yet another blow and the bill known as the "Reverse Robin Hood Budget" went to the Senate. You have to take your moral victories where you find them. A little miracle happened in the Senate when five Republicans joined all of the Democrats in an effort to stop these budget cuts directed against the poor. SuperGrinch Dick Cheney was determined the poor were going to take this hit. He flew all the way from Afghanistan in the middle of the night to cast the tiebreaker vote. Keep in mind, all of this drama was happening at the same time, so it was challenging to see the bigger picture. Some analysts say the Neocons in the Bush administration are losing support as more Republican

leaders rethink their positions. You only need to hear the eloquent pleadings of South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham speaking out against Americans using torture against political prisoners to see there's room for people of conscience in the GOP. He's not the only Republican who remembers we are a democracy and that it's OK to ask questions. Four Republican senators -- Sununu, Murkowski, Chuck Hagel and Larry Craig -- showed they were willing to re-examine the Patriot Act before voting for the four-year blanket renewal W. Bush wanted. Sununu's advice to his fellow senators says maybe our nation can return to a sane, bipartisan vision in the future: "We should not be afraid of a judicial review or setting the appropriate standards of evidence." There's hope. Joyce Mullins has worked for newspapers in Delaware for more than 30 years. Send feedback to jmullins03@.... Originally published Wednesday, December 28, 2005

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