With economy crippled and nothing passed to fight it, Congress vacations

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/With_economy_crippled_and_nothing_passed_0628.html

Andrew McLemore
6/28/2008

With reports of gas prices climbing towards $7 a gallon and a continuing foreclosure crisis, Congress is doing what polls show most Americans expect it to. Not a whole lot.

Congress has gone on holiday through July 4th, ABC News reported, going on vacation without having agreed on energy legislation or a bill to rescue homeowners threatened with foreclosure.

Some estimates say more than 8,000 homes go into foreclosure every day, according to the article.

"What I find most puzzling about this time now is that there is no nervousness on the part of Democrats as an election approaches that Americans are going to hold them accountable for fiddling while the housing crisis continues to burn," said Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

Lawmakers passed legislation to curb speculation that many have said is a large part of soaring gas prices, but Reuters reported that the move was "largely symbolic" and "could well backfire."

President Bush lifted the ban on offshore drilling, causing the two major parties to formulate widely divergent plans about how to implement it.

But oil experts say neither plan will bring any relief to drivers in the short term, The New York Times reported.

As the price of gas has doubled in the past year, summer vacation will be costly for American families increasingly disenfranchised with a Congress paralyzed by partisan battling.

Analysts of the energy industry suggested that the "real culprit" behind rising prices is Americans' addiction to oil, Reuters reported.

"The idea is, 'Oh, let's go and do something to get those evil speculators out of the market.' Personally I don't think the reforms are going to do a whole lot of good in that respect."

So what has Congress been up to recently?

Bill sent to President Bush for approval include $162 billion for next year's war funding, $63 billion for the GI bill and $12.5 billion in renewed unemployment insurance for people whose 26-week benefits have run out, the Associated Press reported.

Mexico welcomed a recent measure approved by Congress that sends the country $400 million to deal with a campaign against drug trafficking, Agence France Presse reported.

President Bush expressed disappointment that the amount was $50 million less than he had requested.