Am I Seeing a Pattern Here?

Were you thrilled by the Congressional debates over flag-burning and gay marriage? You're going to love the next four months in the House of Representatives.

House Republicans intend to hold votes this summer and fall touching on abortion, guns, religion and other priority issues for social conservatives, part of an attempt to improve the party's prospects in the midterm elections.

The "American Values Agenda" also includes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage -- which already has failed in the Senate -- a prohibition on human cloning and possibly votes on several popular tax cuts.

And they're getting an early start on the Contract With Kicking Democrats in the Crotch.

House Republican leaders are expected to introduce a resolution today condemning The New York Times for publishing a story last week that exposed government monitoring of banking records.

The resolution is expected to condemn the leak and publication of classified documents, said one Republican aide with knowledge of the impending legislation.

When you consider the bills Congress could be passing, maybe it's not all bad that it's going to run out the clock with a bunch of meaningless bilge. But it's not going to protect the GOP majority.