Gloom now, euphoria later on Capitol Hill

[November 22, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Before the inaugural euphoria on Capitol Hill comes the gloom.

A lame-duck Congress returned for a week of depressing tasks, displaying none of the soaring spirit that will greet Barack Obama for his historic swearing-in at the Capitol's West Front on Jan. 20.

A mood of desperation trailed lawmakers representing autoworkers.

Big Three auto chief executives arrived in private jets to grovel for money, turning even bailout supporters into skeptics.

House members hammered the treasury secretary with pent-up fury for bailing out banks but not homeowners.

Democratic senators took independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to the woodshed for his support of Republican John McCain for president - and his unkind words for Obama - but ended up only slapping him on the wrist.

Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Republican, celebrated his 85th birthday as a convicted felon and learned that he lost his election.

The senator in charge of inaugural activities threatened jail time for scalping tickets that are supposed to be free.

For lawmakers representing a lot of autoworkers, the week was filled with hairpin turns as they tried to keep the carmakers - who employ their constituents - from driving over a cliff. Their nightmare: thousands of voters in their states and districts thrown out of work because their representatives couldn't save them.

The automakers' CEOs, who came to Congress looking for bailout support, were berated for "self-inflicted wounds" in a tone they don't hear in their executive suites. They left empty-handed.

"What happened here in Washington this week has not been good for the auto industry," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "These guys flying in their big corporate jets doesn't send a good message to people ... anyplace in this country. We want them to get their act together."

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wasn't able to lift the gloom. Members of the House Financial Services Committee, thinking of their constituents losing their homes, spewed venom at him for failing to help homeowners facing foreclosure.

"It appears that you seem to be flying a $700 billion plane by the seat of your pants," said an unhappy Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.

Stevens, after his lousy 85th birthday, strode to the Senate chamber to say his goodbyes, as colleagues rose to praise him - only days after several of them threatened to kick him out if he won.

Perhaps the senators were expressing relief that Stevens had lost.

"I rise to say farewell to our distinguished colleague, the senior senator from the state of Alaska," Reid said. "Ted Stevens' public service has been more than a career; it has really been his life's calling."

Only recently, Reid said in a television interview, "Seven felonies. He is gone."

Senate Democrats vented their anger at Lieberman in a private meeting as a mob of reporters stood outside waiting to hear his fate. Democrats decided to vote for reconciliation. They allowed him to keep his chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs but said he had to give up the chairmanship of a subcommittee that deals with air pollution and nuclear safety.

"It's time to unite our country," said Lieberman supporter Ken Salazar, D-Colo.

Democrats could just as well have explained they needed Lieberman's support in a chamber where it takes 60 of the 100 senators to pass controversial legislation. Counting Lieberman and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, they will have 58, with two races in Minnesota and Georgia still to be decided.

Senators did lift the gloom a little for millions of laid-off workers whose unemployment checks were about to stop before the holidays. They passed an extension and rushed it to President George W. Bush, who signed it Friday before flying to an economic summit in Peru.

It took the liberal lion of the Senate to create a bit of cheer for a fleeting few minutes. Sen. Edward Kennedy's face glowed, despite his battle with brain cancer, as he returned to the Capitol flanked by his wife, Vicki, and dogs Sunny and Splash. It took the Senate's big caucus room to hold all the staff members who greeted him with a "Welcome Back Senator" banner.

Perhaps the mood of the week was best expressed by an outraged Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat in charge of the inaugural at the Capitol.

Feinstein warned Web sites to stop scalping outdoor inaugural tickets, sternly saying on the Senate floor: "This is not a football game."

The legislation she introduced included fines and up to a year in prison for selling and counterfeiting inaugural tickets.

Feinstein delivered the warning in an all-black suit.

Downright gloomy.

[Associated Press; By LARRY MARGASAK]

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