Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Congress Isn't Working: The Productivity Problem


By the numbers, this Congress, the lucky 113th Congress is "the least productive Congress in history."






This Congress is far less productive than the famed "Do Nothing Congress" that President Truman railed against in the 1948 Election.  That Congress passed 906 public bills.  This one? 121 at the writing of this post, of which many are ceremonial.  Here's Pew's rundown of ceremonial versus substantive laws passed by recent congresses (written in December, 2013):




If you go by number of bills passed, Congress has been getting substantially less effective recently.


There is a necessary qualifier here: Congress has increasingly relied on "omnibus" bills, particularly for spending, over the last couple of decades.  So there have been a few bills in this small lot that have gotten some things done.  I've tried to track down some numbers on the history of this omnibus phenomenon, but have thus far been unsuccessful.  When I have a bit more time I'll come back and count it out if I can't find anybody else doing that research.


What I can tell you about omnibus bills, though - from personal experience - is that they are the worst way to pass bills: 


  • They are large - we're talking hundreds and sometimes thousands of pages in a bill.  

  • They always contain "pork" or "member projects" to guarantee passage.  

  • They aren't read by many people, which means that mistakes are made, and representatives aren't doing their job to be informed about just what they are voting on - and that problem is made far worse when you are the party in the minority, who will get the bill language often at the very last minute.  



So what does this lack of productivity mean?


It means that we have had government shutdowns, and we have had our credit downgraded because Congress cannot perform its basic functions.  


It means that when the going gets tough, Congress gets going: going on vacation, for example.  In 2013, Congress had 239 days off.  Congress has routinely had fewer working days in recent sessions, and this has meant less time getting to know each other, less time working together to solve problems, and more time spouting off about who is to blame for inactivity.

"Who banks a $174,000 annual salary and works less than a third of the year?

Members of the House of Representatives, apparently.

The 2014 calendar for the House was released Thursday by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), and shows members will only work only 113 days. That's down from 2013, when House lawmakers were scheduled to meet for 126 days. Only 107 days were scheduled in 2012."

Yes, Congress does work in-district.  But that work is largely raising money and trying to get reelected - not what Congress is constitutionally required to do.


At the end of the day, Congress isn't working.  Why?  Let's explore that.  And then, let's fix it.



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I'm happy to hear any constructive comments, but will remove anything profane or reductive.