Now, Here's An Idea

Senate Majority Leader had promised a few weeks ago that the first item on the Senate agenda when Congress reconvened would be the permanent repeal of the Estate Tax (previously known as the "Death Tax). Apparently the government disaster following the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina has changed his mind.

As the pressure on Republicans builds, Democrats are sounding emboldened. One sign of GOP unease: The Senate was supposed to vote this week on whether to permanently repeal the estate tax, but Frist said yesterday that the bill will be temporarily shelved. The announcement came two hours after Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) called for Republicans to back off tax cuts in the wake of the Katrina tragedy. "Not now, for heaven's sake," Reid said.

The Administration, faced with low poll numbers even before the mismanagement of Katrina, may very well turn out to be a drag on those Republicans seeking re-election in 2006. Even those in Congress must realize how bad it makes them look if the first thing they do on return from the summer recess is give more money to the wealthiest of Americans.

And at least a few Democrats are indeed emboldened (finally):

...Democrats say they are poised to pounce. "If they think they can go forward as if nothing's changed, they do not understand what the rest of America has witnessed over the past week," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who heads the House Democrats' campaign committee.

While Congress must deal with a raft of leftover bills, among them stem cell research, voting reform, and now must vote on two nominations to the Supreme Court, the very first order of business should be disaster relief for the Gulf Coast. Next should be hearings into why things went so unbelievably wrong in the government's response. Only then should Sen. Frist be allowed to go back to his August 1 agenda.