PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

The old adage about passing laws crossed my mind in the last few days as, from afar, I watched Congress enact the coronavirus relief law.

It didn’t pay to watch that happen.

Just like it doesn’t pay to watch sausage be made.

I was a lobbyist for about 25 years, after 15 years as a manager in state government, so I saw my share of the lawmaking process.  Not pretty.

But, in the current case, my basic proposition is this:

We are facing an unprecedented challenge in this country, one not unlike a world war, so, drastic action is warranted.  If, upon inspection, the result doesn’t look perfect, so be it.  We cannot let perfection be the enemy of the good. 

I could have wished for a more reasonable process that did not consider the pet projects and special interests of some Members of Congress, but focused instead on substantive action.

At one point, in fact, there was a proposal circulating that would have silenced lobbyists.  But it also is true that some lobbyists provided solid information –not pet project information — that enabled Members of Congress and bill drafters to achieve more precision.

Congress, not known lately for being able to act, managed to get its act together long enough to pass the bill.

The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Politico have produced analyses of what happened, as well as of what is in the final bill.

Here is a summary, with credit where credit is due to all three publications whose reporters are closer to the action than I am.

FROM POLITICO:  In the race to save the economy and pass the largest economic rescue package in American history, Congress still found a way to do some old-fashioned home state favors and reward key special interests.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy managed successfully to push a minimum assistance figure for every state — $1.5 billion — to make sure small states like his weren’t left out in the legislation.

A provision for the Food and Drug Administration to approve “innovative” sunscreens—which would benefit L’Oreal, which has operations in Kentucky—appeared in the bill, which was steered in the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The gaming industry wasn’t left out either:  Casinos will be able to tap government loans for disaster assistance, a payback after casinos were blocked from receiving tax breaks extended to other businesses in earlier bills.

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Lawmakers were able to pack pet provisions into the final, omnibus bill.  Special-interest beneficiaries of the $2 trillion stimulus package range from sunscreen makers to seafood companies.

Lawmakers used the opportunity of a must-pass bill to make a slew of policy changes that had gathered dust, some for years in a stagnant and divided Congress.

From streamlining the approval process for sunscreen ingredients to giving tax-preferred treatment to feminine-hygiene products, the package is blending emergency stimulus for the economy with small-bore alterations to federal law.

Buried in hundreds of pages of dense legislative language were dozens of measures added to the bill by Republicans and Democrats alike seeking to advance their own priorities.

Along with a temporary repeal of alcohol excise taxes for makers of hand sanitizer are provisions that would ban companies that receive federal loans from weighing in on efforts by their employees to form labor unions.

Community and regional banks each scored wins on separate measures to allow them to reduce capital requirements so they can make more loans.

Democrats added language that would ban the use of any money in the legislation to pay for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and Republicans added a measure to promote sexual abstinence.

Some special-interest wins resulted from efforts to keep things out of the bill.

Lobbyists for the banking industry and credit bureaus defeated a proposal from Democrat lawmakers that would have suspended reporting of negative credit information to credit-card issuers and banks for four months in an attempt to help laid-off workers who are likely to miss bill payments because of the economic crisis.

Makers of over-the-counter drugs, such as Tylenol, Pepto-Bismol and Benadryl, won inclusion of a long-sought bill to change the federal approval process for new products.

The industry attached an existing bill to the stimulus package that includes several wins, such as an 18-month marketing exclusivity period on new products.

The bill also streamlines the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for new products, a change sought for years by the trade association that represents companies such as Proctor & Gamble, Bayer Consumer Health, and Bausch & Lomb.

THE WASHINGTON POST:  The newspaper so far has not produced the same kind of story outlining the pet projects – call them “pork” – in the bill, but probably will do so soon.

What the Post did write:

“Republicans had a deal until Nancy Pelosi rode into town from her extended vacation. The Democrats want the Virus to win?” Trump tweeted. “They are asking for things that have nothing to do with our great workers or companies. They want Open Borders and the Green New Deal.  Republicans shouldn’t agree!”

That tweet produced a comment from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pleading with Trump not to impugn Members of Congress in further tweets.  And, frankly, Pelosi, in the business of producing a bill, even one laden with pork, deserves credit, I think, for passing the bill in only a couple days, given the extremity of the national circumstance.

Plus, I almost never agree with Schumer, but he is right this time – this is no time for Trump or anyone else to impugn the character of those involved.  Too much is at stake for that to occur — unless it relates to the footnote below.

So, all in all, my notion is that, with all its warts, the final coronavirus bill is good for the country.  Frankly, there was no choice but for Congress to act and that emergency produced the final imperfect, though defensible, result.

And, this footnote:  Representative Thomas Massie ought to be run out of town on a rail.  For him to require Members of Congress to return to Washington, D.C. to vote instead of doing so by remote means, literally meant members had to risk their lives by traveling.  And, for what?  Nothing!  The bill was going to pass anyway.