Tag Archives: Worst Congress Ever

Congress’ Cloud of Uncertainty

For Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney the heat is on, whether that be the heat of summer, or the election. But as “interesting” as the biting between these two men can be, I’m continually led to a question. Are we focusing too much on the Presidential race? I’m inclined to think so.

Take all of the mishaps that have occurred in Congress since President Obama was elected. The President is NOT a member of Congress… he no longer votes on legislation. He also cannot the agenda of legislation for the House and the Senate. If you think of a football game, the President is a coach. No matter how much he wants to at times, he can’t run into the field, take the ball and run it through to the endzone. He stays on the sidelines. Now he can yell, shout and turn over some chairs, but he’s not allowed to play.

So the question remains… if he’s not playing the game, why must all the losses be blamed on him? He’s not in CONGRESS. He can’t vote on legislation. And, thankfully for the GOP, he has no way to stop them from fouling up every initiative that Democrats have tried to pass. We know that nothing’s getting done in Washington right now, but for some strange reason, Americans want a singular figure to be representative of the blame. That almost, always turns out to be the President.

But does it make a difference to know that we are living in a time of insanely bad Congressional sabotage. Almost every single day since January 2011, members of Congress (mostly GOP) have wasted our tax money with “secret filibusters” and show votes. Ezra Klein noted very eloquently on the Rachel Maddow show, we are beyond even a “Do-Nothing Congress now. The 112th session may end up being the worst Congress in history. Take a look at this astounding chart…

The 112th… our current Congress… is at the very end. Even when compared to the other very low numbers, this Congress hasn’t passed half the amount of legislation as the others. Simply put, they are not doing right by the American People. We elected them to PASS LEGISLATION, and they’re not doing it. Everyone is upset that the job market is sluggish, but no one wants to talk about WHY it’s sluggish. Take a look at the chart. If the members of Congress were doing their job… the job we pay them to do… more Americans would be able to do THEIR jobs and not worry about the “Congressional Cloud of Uncertainty” that swirls around us.

The reason why hiring is so sluggish is because small-business owners have no earthly idea what the government is going to do. Are taxes going to go up or down? Will we be in a recession next year, or not? Will I have to pay for all of my employee’s healthcare, a part of it, or just incentivize them to buy their own. Business owners across the country are frustrated, because of the uncertainty. But here’s the critical thing to understand… most of this uncertainty has been caused by the GOP, NOT the President. The Supreme Court has ruled, and the Healthcare lawsuit is now OVER. The Affordable Care Act (what many refer to as “Obamacare” is national law. But if you listend to GOP Congress members, you’d think it was just one of hundreds of bills still being wrangled about. The way they talk, everything that has occurred during the Obama administration is up for debate. All of this belligerence and devisiveness grows the cloud of uncertainty.

So here’s my take… If you’re a Democrat, and a supporter of the President and Democrats, you have to keep some attention on the misbehavior within Congress. 33 votes to repeal the ACA? That’s WASTEFUL… it wasted America’s time and America’s money. The House could have voted on JOBS legislation during that time, and more people could be working today. They continue to block desperately-needed state and local funding to keep our roads repaired and good educators in our schools. Caught up in all of the partisan wrangling are US Postal Workers and public employees whose jobs are literally being funded month-to-month thanks to Congressional ineptitude. If Democrats and President Obama have any hope of re-election in November, this case must be made loud and clear.

Let’s all tell Congress to GET TO WORK!!