Editorial: Nothing ventured or gained

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2006 | 8:32 a.m.

If doing nothing was an Olympic sport, U.S. Congress would be gold medal-bound

The prospect of Congress accomplishing something more substantial than rhetorical grandstanding before it breaks for fall elections is looking grim.

A story this week in The New York Times points out that none of the 11 required spending bills have been approved so far - and only two have any hope of passing - and that has forced Congress to adopt an emergency measure just to keep the federal government up and running. There is no budget and no lobbying reform. Immigration laws still need an overhaul, and an offshore drilling bill touted as a remedy for high gasoline prices remains stalled.

As it stands, the best that congressional incumbents probably can do is to emphasize what they haven't done. Perhaps that is just as well, given some of the bone-headed proposals that have been floated of late.

We don't think this Republican-controlled Congress could agree that the sky is blue by the end of the week, let alone pass a budget or meaningful immigration reform. We can only hope that when lawmakers reconvene Nov. 13, they can manage to accomplish something before they break for Thanksgiving.