Congress vs. President Bush

(title link to NYT story - "Detainee" vote)
The hurricanes must have stirred up some legislative gumption. Unwilling to exercise proper oversight, for the first time in years it seems like members of congress are becoming willing to take on President Bush. Disagreement over a number of issues is swirling around the current administration, and a number of perturbed lawmakers are out in the storm. Possible presidential candidates are testing the wind. Republicans facing reelection in 2006 are worried about the president's very low approval ratings. Some legislative leaders are taking action.

• In one of the boldest moves, the Senate passed an amendment to prevent military prisoner abuse, despite the threat of a presidential veto. Senator John McCain led the charge. And a huge number of senators followed him.
• Fiscal conservatives are upset over out-of-control government spending. Many are arguing for budget cuts to offset spending on hurricane recovery efforts and the directly competing demands of the war in Iraq. But they do not seem willing to do much about the Department of Defense budget, currently in the final voting stage in the Senate.
• Even if they are not up for reelection next year, every senator realizes that constituents are feeling the pinch of rising fuel prices (partially due to the hurricanes), as well as just general economic woes. The entire House of Representatives IS up for grabs in 2006, Indicted Texas Representative Tom Delay is now at the center of a raging political storm, unlikely to be able help any Republican.
• Social conservatives are very concerned about the current president's latest nomination to the Supreme Court. Some former loyalists seem to feel cheated because this nominee was not on their "list" of acceptable appointments.
• Though it is really not as out in the open, I suspect that some members of the Senate and House have felt some shame at the increasingly apparent "sleaze factor" coming out of the White House. In addition to the charges of cronyism, a recent spy investigation certainly has not increased their comfort level.

Our three-part government has become imbalanced. The executive branch has continued to seize inordinate amounts of power. There are small signs that things might be getting a little better. The legislative branch is the one that is supposed to represent the people's interests; a pending election is the best re-balancer around.