Mike Arcuri Impotent At Passing Legislation

Open Congress, a legislative social networking site, presents a disturbing statistic about our U.S. Representative Mike Arcuri. Arcuri, it seems, is legislatively impotent.

Michael Arcuri can't seem to make allies in the House of Representatives very effectively. Perhaps his membership in the right wing Blue Dog Coalition is part of the problem, alienating Arcuri from his Democratic colleagues.

Whatever the cause, even though Congressman Arcuri's own political party is in the majority, Arcuri hasn't been able to get a single bill in the current session of Congress passed into actual law.

Sure, Arcuri has offered a few procedural motions and toothless resolutions, and those have gotten votes. These are nothing but pieces of paper, however - not laws that actually help people in our district or in the USA as a whole.

For example, Representative Arcuri introduced H.Res. 692, a resolution supporting the goals of Tay Sachs Month. That sounds great, until you look at what the resolution actually does: Nothing. It doesn't provide funding, or any other form of tangible government support, to deal with Tay Sachs disease. It's just a congressional press release. That's all.

Arcuri has spent his time offering a great number of procedural bills that do nothing more than "providing for the consideration of" legislation written by other, more competent, members of Congress. It's like Arcuri is serving as bat boy to U.S. Representatives who really know how to get things done.

My favorite "accomplishment" of Congressman Arcuri in this term of Congress is his H. Con. Res. 133. It's a motion providing for an adjournment of Congress. That pretty much sums up Mike Arcuri's congressional career.

In 2010, it's time that Arcuri adjourns his stand as New York's 24th district representative for good.

Michael Arcuri Disagrees With Surge. Now What?

Readers of yore know that I am suspicious when it comes to Congressman Michael Arcuri. Representative Arcuri is the kind of Democrat who leans toward being a Republican a lot of the time. He has, as a former District Attorney, a record of pushing a law and order attitude that sometimes fails to recognize people's legal rights. Arcuri's support of the Military Commissions Act is a form of this attitude writ large.

Still, there are some areas in which Mike Arcuri could be redeemed. On the matter of Iraq, for example, Congressman Arcuri seems yet to have formed a coherent position. During the campaign last year, Arcuri fumbled and fudged, and avoided giving specifics beyond such vague promises as "benchmarks".

As last week's change of heart on the House legislation to set an end date for the war in Iraq shows, we can influence Arcuri. The change of heart came after calls from constituents who requested that Arcuri take a firm stand.

Michael Arcuri certainly did the right thing in February, when he voted for the non-binding resolution disagreeing with George W. Bush's plan for an escalation in Iraq - a plan which has failed, as this weekend's carnage illustrates. However, that was just a non-binding resolution, expressing an opinion.

The campaign is over. It's no longer time to just say what you would do, if elected, or what opinion you have about what the President is doing. It's time for clear action.

Supporting this month's legislation with a specific end date for the war in Iraq is a good start, but with the Senate's failure to pass equivalent legislation, more action will be needed.

Let's keep an eye on Congressman Arcuri, and watch how he votes.