David Usborne: Look beyond this vote and Congress is little changed

Has a new era of enlightenment descended on Capitol Hill? In just a few days, furiously debated bills to extend tax cuts and finally abolish sexuality discrimination in the military have been passed with almost heady bipartisan co-operation. Barack Obama is signing laws more quickly than Christmas cards.

Washington is almost giddy. "It's not possible to over-estimate the historical significance" of the repeal of the ban on openly gay and lesbian soldiers, said David Mixner, the gay-rights advocate. He had been counting on three Republican senators crossing the aisle for the vote; in the end, eight did.

Yet it is a measure of how far Congress has fallen in popular esteem that we are so thrilled. And as far as being brave about gays in the military goes, most ordinary Americans will yawn. Attitudes on this issue on Capitol Hill lag far behind those in the country at large.

Americans will like that things are getting done even in a "lame-duck" Congress, which in the new year will look much more Republican to reflect the results of November's midterm elections. Also in the works today is a bipartisan agreement on a new short-term budget for the US government.

But look beyond the tinsel and there are more sobering realities. Also on the Senate floor at the weekend was the so-called DREAM Act to offer eventual citizenship to young illegal immigrants who either undertake higher education or serve in the military. It was defeated soundly, serving as a reminder that Mr Obama's goal of comprehensive immigration reform is utterly stalled.

Nor has the country exactly embraced that other big policy priority of Mr Obama's: enacting cap and trade legislation to reduce carbon emissions and address global warming. As for closing Guantanamo Bay, the less that is said on that subject, the better.

But savour the Yuletide flourishes of bipartisanship while they last. The Ohio Republican John Boehner takes over from Nancy Pelosi as speaker in January and we know his first order of business: mustering votes to unravel the one thing that really matters to Mr Obama: his healthcare reforms.

And, if you can stand it, 2011 marks the start of the next presidential-election cycle. Helping Mr Obama to sign still more laws and improve his hopes of a second term is not what the Republicans will be about.