Lame Duck Sessions of Congress: What's the point of it?

Well since November 2nd, when America re soundly rejected the policies of the Obama/Pelosi agenda it has been very busy up in ole' D.C.. We're in what is called a lame duck session of congress, which got me thinking. Why is there such a thing as a lame duck session of congress anyway? I can understand why a President enters into lame duck status. It's because the transition of power process takes time. And when America swears in a new President we need them to be ready to lead on day one. It makes sense that the President-Elect be given ample time to put together his team in a thorough manner and not in haste.

But Congress, which rarely works anyway, why do they need time for transition? It seems to me that all a lame duck session of Congress is good for is for a majority-party who lost one or both houses of Congress(this case being the former rather than the latter) to put the screws to America one last time. Case in point, why are we ratifying a treaty with Russia at this time. You would think a treaty of this significance would be better served an up or down vote from a Congress that isn't a lame duck. Of course there are other examples: like the Dream Act, which is nothing more than amnesty. Or the piling of a 1.1 Trillion dollar omnibus spending bill onto the deficit.

It seems to me that America would be better served if there wasn't a lame duck session of congress. What I think should happen is that once an election is certified and there are no legal challenges, the person who won should be sworn in no more than a week after certification. And if there are any legal challenges to a seat then that seat's current holder(unless he/she is apart of the contested election)shall hold onto that seat until the official start of the new session of Congress January 5th. During that stretch the holder's voting ability won't be recognized by the new congress. And of course once January 5th comes the seat, unless the contested election is settled, will be vacated. If the current holder is apart of the contested election then the seat shall be vacated immediately until it's settled.

I think giving someone like Nancy Pelosi one more opportunity to put forth her deeply misguided and overly rejected policies into place in such a way is bad for America. That's why I hope States take an active role in the elimination of the lame duck session of Congress by requiring their U.S. Senators and Representatives be sworn in November instead of January. This way the election would be the final word. That once a party is rejected the way the Democrats were this year and the way Republicans were in '06 and '08, there would be no opportunity to turn the screws on America one last time.

Until next time,
Chesswiz77 is out.