Okay, I know you probably didn't come to Days in Red to read my political views, so I'll try to make this quick and fast--like ripping off a band aid. No, I'm not going to discuss the presidential debates, or even the presidential candidates (that's next time, muwahaha ;)), but the much lamer issue at hand--Congress.
Last Friday, I went with some coworkers to Luigi's, an Italian restaurant in downtown Midland. At lunch, I overheard one of the ladies saying that it didn't matter who wins the presidency, what matters is who we elect to Congress since they, "control most of the issues that concern us anyway, the president just gets blamed for them." Okay, fairly valid point (in case you're wondering, I kept my mouth shut!). When I got back to my computer, I decided to research some facts on the 112th Congress (our current fine lawmakers) to see how they compare to previous Congresses, so I could see if this practice of "do-nothing" Congress is a tradition, or if it is a more recent development.
The paradoxical thing about Congress, is that the Framers of the Constitution designated Congress as the branch of government that is the most directly connected to the people, yet it is the institution that we Americans despise the most. Incidentally, the Supreme Court is the most removed from the people and public opinion, yet Gallup polls declare that the Court is the institution we trust the most. Wait...what? Gallup research also indicates that Americans don't dislike their congressperson, it's everyone else's.
Regardless of your political views, the fact that Congress is morally bankrupt is something we can all agree on. But, just how bad is it?
Bad, my friends.
This batch of "Brooks Brothers barnacles" has managed to do worse than the 111 Congresses that preceded them. They've broken the system. The approval rating of the 112th Congress is hovering above the margin of error--and that's only because a percentage of people polled believe the president to be Martin Sheen (the president in the hit TV series The West Wing).
Let's start with the Senate. Because of the abuse of the filibuster, the Senate is now dysfunctional. The filibuster is a practice as old as the institution that was originally designed to delay vote through a senator's blabbering. Famous uses of the filibuster have gone on for up to 24 hours (really, people, come on). Now, this practice is used a veto threat by both parties, and anything less than the 60-member super majority means stalemate. In other words, without a super majority "nothing" is possible. The same amount of votes it takes to amend the Constitution is now the same number of votes it takes to rename a post office.
Speaking of renaming post offices, that is about all the House has been doing for the past two years. Naming things that already have a name. Out of the pathetic 124 laws that have originated in the House, 27 of them have been to rename post offices (See congress.gov). They have issued two commemorative coins. How do they compare? Typically, circa 300 laws originate in the House every two years regardless of party control.
What has the House been doing? See Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader's website. According to the official House calendar, the House is "in session" 104 days this year. 104 days out of 365?! That's less than four months! I used to think that House recess was a Nancy Pelosi thing--nope. Seems as if the "do nothing" attitude doesn't discriminate against party. I don't know if that cracks me up, or if that deeply insults me. Haven't decided yet. But I have decided that I want to be a congresswoman so I can party all the time.
Doing "nothing" would be something to aspire to.
The House has voted (and failed) to overturn ObamaCare 33 times. As if the president would ever sign that piece of legislation. Ever. (Yep, that's right, not only are they unsuccessful at creating new laws, they're unsuccessful at disbanding old ones.)
Congress is on yet another break right now until November 13, to go campaign for the jobs that they already don't do.
When I was discussing all this with my dad the other evening he made the argument that maybe this is a good thing. The less the government does, the better. What do you think? Why are they there in the first place?
The choice is yours, people. Vote.
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