Thank God it’s Shark Week – it helps take my mind off of what is not happening in Washington.
In 1948, faced with an uphill battle against Thomas Dewey, Harry Truman focused much of his campaign blasting the 80th Congress, controlled by Republicans. Labeling it the “Do-Nothing Congress,” he hammered away hard, spending as much time bashing Congress as he did Dewey.
The result was a come from behind victory coupled with a restoration of Democratic control of both the House and Senate.
Despite Truman’s spin, the “Do-Nothing Congress” was less do-nothing and more do-nothing-I-want. The 80th Congress saw 908 laws enacted, including major pieces of legislation such as the Taft-Hartley Act, the National Security Act of 1947 which created the office of Secretary of Defense, the Selective Service Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act – precursor to today’s Clean Water Act – and the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, term limiting the President.
So if the 80th “Do-Nothing Congress” saw 908 laws enacted, what do we call the 112th Congress?
Today we’re in the middle of the traditional August recess, and when Congress comes back September 10, they will have a total of eight legislative days left until their pre-election break. To date, the 112th Congress has seen 155 laws enacted.
155.
But it gets worse. Of those 155 bills, 45 were post office namings, commemorations, appointments or technical corrections to previously passed laws. Another 30 were merely short term extensions of existing programs or approprations to give Congress more time for a full reauthorization.
That leaves 81 substantive laws. Of those 81, 18 were land conveyances or otherwise specifically targeted laws that only affected a specific project or geographic area, like a law to promote development of the southwest DC waterfront.
That leaves 63 real laws of national significance.
Is it any wonder why this Congress has the lowest approval ratings any Congress has ever had? Things are simply not getting done. And this is a trend that has been only growing, not getting better.
Looking at the number of laws enacted during the past thirty years, this Congress is striking in its inability to get things done.
Here’s a list of the number of laws passed by the last 19 Congresses:
112 (2011-2012) – 155 laws House-R Senate-D WH-D
111 (2009-2010) – 383 laws House-D Senate-D WH-D
110 (2007-2008) – 460 laws House-D Senate-D WH-R
109 (2005-2006) – 482 laws House-R Senate-R WH-R
108 (2003-2004) – 498 laws House-R Senate-R WH-R
107 (2001-2002) – 377 laws House-R Senate-D WH-R
106 (1999-2000) – 580 laws House-R Senate-R WH-D
105 (1997-1998) – 394 laws House-R Senate-R WH-D
104 (1995-1996) – 333 laws House-R Senate-R WH-D
103 (1993-1994) – 465 laws House-D Senate-D WH-D
102 (1991-1992) – 590 laws House-D Senate-D WH-R
101 (1989-1990) – 650 laws House-D Senate-D WH-R
100 (1987-1988) – 713 laws House-D Senate-D WH-R
99 (1985-1986) – 663 laws House-D Senate-R WH-R
98 (1983-1984) – 623 laws House-D Senate-R WH-R
97 (1981-1982) – 473 laws House-D Senate-R WH-R
96 (1979-1980) – 613 laws House-D Senate-D WH-D
95 (1977-1978) – 633 laws House-D Senate-D WH-D
94 (1975-1976) – 588 laws House-D Senate-D WH-R
93 (1973-1974) – 659 laws House-D Senate-D WH-R
As you can see, the partisan breakdown of Congress and the White House doesn’t really have a major impact. We saw more laws enacted in the 106th Congress with Republicans controlling the House and Senate and Bill Clinton in the White House than we saw under both Congresses with Republican control over all three.
Many of my Tea Party and Ron Paul supporting friends scoff when I complain about how few laws have gotten passed this Congress. The fewer laws passed the better, they exclaim. But that’s a short-sighted and counterproductive view. Unless you think the status quo is perfectly acceptable, fewer laws enacted means fewer chances for reform. Fewer chances for cuts. Fewer chances for resolving the myriad problems we face. As I do my best to remind them, if you think America is headed off a cliff, being pleased with a Congress that isn’t passing laws is a bad idea.
Nobody trying to stop a car going off a cliff is going to cheer that it’s only slowly going off the cliff. You can’t steer away from the cliff if you can’t pass laws, and that’s one of the few things this Congress has been good at – not getting laws enacted.
This isn’t a partisan issue. The House and Senate both deserve criticism for their failures to work together. It takes two to tango in Washington, and both sides have been very good at passing bills they know will never see the light of day in the other body. That’s a waste of time and taxpayer money. We need to start holding Congress accountable for its inaction.
Now, more than ever, we need a Congress that is productive – one that decides it will get things done and then proceeds to do them. The time for press conferences and supercommittees is over. We just need Congress to do its job. And that starts with electing the right people. When too many members view cooperation as a four letter word, nothing gets done, and in the long run that’s detrimental to the nation as a whole.
This election in November is important because of the White House, but it’s as important – if not more – because of the Congress. We need a Congress that is going to look at the 112th Congress as an aberration and is willing to do the hard work necessary to get us moving in the right direction. The era of a do-nothing Congress needs to end, and it needs to end now.
Do-nothing is simply no longer a viable alternative.
