I can recall being at a meeting in Washington, after the 1994 elections, but before the 104th Congress was seated. The Republicans had firm control of the Congress and had laid out a list of legislative steps during the campaign that they called "Contract With America". The speaker at the meeting I attended was Dick Armey (R-Texas), the incoming Majority Leader of the House.

Armey explained in great detail the control that the GOP had of the Congress and how they were going to ramrod through a series of almost 100 bills that had already been written. He spoke of voting in a "bill a day" for the first 100 days.

During the first hundred days of the 104th Congress, Armey pledged "to bring to the floor the ten major bills, each to be given a full and open debate, each to be given a clear and fair vote, and each to be immediately available for public inspection". The text of the proposed bills was included in the Contract, which was released prior to the election. These bills were not governmental reforms, as the previous promises were; rather, they represented significant changes to policy. The main included tax cuts for businesses and individuals, term limits for legislators, social security reform, tort reform, and welfare reform.

Even with the Congressional plurality held by the GOP, the results of the Contract were spotty. Many of the promised bills did pass in the House. But about half of them failed to make it thru conference committee or a Senate vote. A few that passed the House never made it out of Senate committee. A couple that passed both houses were vetoed by President Clinton.

What we're seeing right now is a repeat of the Contract With America I. The President and the Congress have been active in passing legislation and dealing with the terrible economic crisis, bankruptcies, wars, etc. But I think it's not too early to see fissures already forming in the legislative plans of the heavy Democratic majority in the 111th Congress. They do not appear--at this point anyway--to be reaching consensus on the President's healthcare legislation or even his budget.

Yes, I think that the Democrats will pass a fair share of what President Obama campaigned on. But if history has taught us anything, it's not likely that the "Obama list" is going to sail through Congress unmolested.

And maybe that's a good thing. Just so long as the Congress doesn't again lower itself to bitter partisan bickering instead of doing "the people's work" and passing some legislation anyway.

P.S. Your "dream team" question is a tough one, DK. Right now I can't see anyone on the horizon who is capable of providing the electorate a real choice. Until some appear, we'll have one-party rule. But as I pointed out above, even with almost all the players on one team they often get stalled because they begin arguing with each other rather than some opponent from another political party. The GOP has time, I think. But I sure wish someone would emerge from the bushes that would be a party spokesman, other than the pundits and entertainers who seem to have assumed complete control of providing the "Republican message" to the public. If that doesn't change soon, the last-best hope is that the Democrats don't have any more success with Contract II than the Republicans had with Contract I.