I love that quote from Maya Angelou, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Some of my friends have become quite anxious about legislation introduced so far in this 117th Congress. When it comes to what the Democrat majority is saying, it’s echoing pretty closely the Democratic agenda and platform. Hoping to calm their fears, I remind my friends that only a few percent of introduced legislation ever makes it into law.

In the case of the 111th Congress, the last time Democrats held both the White House and the Legislature, only about 3% of proposed legislation, about average, passed into law. A quick review of those bills shows that around half of them were for naming post offices and other memorial activities. Another goodly chunk extended and funded bits of temporary legislation passed in previous sessions. The other 97% died in committee.

This is common. However, as we’ve all been reminded recently, past performance is no indication of future returns. In its first month, what is the 117th planning to give us?

H.R. 669 – To restrict the first-use strike of nuclear weapons. This would have been more appropriate as an amendment to the War Powers Resolution, but there’s not enough Dem juice to override a presidential veto. Just looking at the title, though, one might speculate that Mr. Lieu is about 76 years too late on this one.

S. 130 – Giving authority over the National Guard of the District of Columbia, which currently resides with the President, to the mayor. Can’t see any president, not even Ol’ Joe, relinquishing such power.

S. 85 – Reinstating the full state and local tax deduction that President Trump limited. Democrats have a precarious hold on this Congress. Forcing regular Americans to resume footing the bill for the extremely lavish lifestyles of the ultra-rich, and to send their hard-earned money, not to their banks or even their own state capitals, but to the likes of profligate New York, New Jersey, and California, just seems to be a nonstarter across Middle America, regardless of party affiliation.

Several “gun control” bills – Most egregious is one of several submitted by Ms. Shirley Jackson Lee, H.R. 127 requiring licensing of firearms owners prior to purchasing many guns and ammo. Others can talk more legally about how this abridges our Second Amendment rights and still others about how FBI and CDC statistics simply do not support limiting access to rifles.

I’m not even going to get into the weirdness and the cost of the mandatory psych eval of license applicants, including interviewing their families and friends. What alarms me most is that all the information collected on those licensed will be publicly available information. This is a clear violation of the Privacy Act, that will put all gun owners and their families at risk of doxing, abuse, and attack, not just from the cancel culturists, but from those who want their guns.

Even more menacing is Lee’s proposed H.R. 137 which provides $500 million to expand mental health services to the up to one-half of all Americans who at some time in their lives could use such a service, and to “assist the reporting of relevant disqualifying mental health information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.” Stalin, who weaponized psychiatry, would have approved.

They’ve put forward seven bills to initiate amendments to the Constitution, all most likely DOA given the current legislative make-up of the states, especially H.J.Res. 14 (abolishing the electoral college), H.J.Res. 21 (giving Congress the right to regulate campaign contributions, a prima facie limitation of First Amendment rights), and H.J.Res. 23 (giving 16-year-olds the vote).

There are also lots of Covid-19 related bills, greenie bills, bills related to voting, and sixteen bills to name a post office or take other commemorative action.

On the other hand, the 111th Congress did give us Obamacare, so maybe I’m wrong, and now is the time to organize to oppose all this proposed legislation.

Author’s credit – Anony Mee is a retired public servant.

IMAGE: Image by forcal35 from Pixabay.