Is Congress capable of exercising discipline and self-restraint? It will have to, in everything from avoiding partisan bickering and pay-back to cutting dispensable programs with loud constituencies, if the government is to have any chance of reducing the deficit and putting the nation back on the road to fiscal responsibility. We can hope, but the signs are not encouraging.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the incoming G.O.P majority is going to try to take the symbolic step of banning honorific proclamations, on the theory that Congress passing hundreds of bills each session saluting the American pickle industry, noting the retirement of Georgia Tech’s rugby coach, or lauding the memory of actress Delores Del Rio wastes time that needs to be spent doing the real work of governing. It is a good way to kick off what is supposed to be reform of politics as usual, but history and the reaction of Democrats so far show how thoroughly self-restraint has left the culture of Washington.

First, the history: the Times recalls:

“Congress has been down this road before. When Newt Gingrich became House speaker in 1995 after the Republican landslide, he sought to ban resolutions designating special days, weeks and months — like National Asparagus Month, Wine Appreciation Week and National Fragrance Week. The results were striking. Commemorations plummeted from a high of 41% of all bills passed in the mid-1980s to 12% in 1995-96. But…lawmakers found a way around the new rules. Because the ban restricted only commemorations designating a specific time period, lawmakers soon started bestowing less temporal honors — as in ‘supporting the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week.’ Now members of both parties indulge in the practice, introducing hundreds of celebratory resolutions every session.”

The predictable arguments against this tiny symbolic reform are already surfacing. You can guess them, I am sure.

“It’s tradition.”

Yes, it is. So is inefficient government.

“It means a lot to those who are honored.”

Priorities, priorities!

“This is just grandstanding!”

The opposition to making such a small concession to serious governing proves that it isn’t.

“It’s good politics!”

Getting the job done you were elected to do is better politics.

As Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) noted on the House floor when he voted against a recent House resolution recognizing the birthday of  Confucius,  “He who spends time passing trivial legislation may find himself out of time to read health care bill.”

Exactly.