Election 2012: Why America Should Fire Congress

So what exactly does a do-nothing Congress look like?

Here’s a list of what our current batch of lawmakers have – or, more to the point, haven’t – done over the past two years:

• Fewest laws passed: The primary job of Congress is to pass laws, and on that score this group has failed miserably. The 112th Congress has passed just 174 laws so far (with just one post-election lame duck session to go), far below the previous low of 333 set by the 104th Congress.

• No budget: Astonishingly, this Congress has failed to pass a budget, an issue it inherited from the 111th Congress. That’s right. Congress has not passed a budget – another of its major duties as required by law — in more than three years (since April 29, 2009). In that time, the federal government has added $4.8 trillion in debt.

• Skimped on hearings: Many Congressional committees fell short on another key responsibility – holding hearings, a vital tool for conducting oversight and investigating problems. In his annual Wastebook, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK, cited several committees that held far fewer than their usual number of hearings in 2012, including the Senate Budget Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Small Business Committee. “Many high school student councils have been more deliberative than the U.S. Senate,” Coburn wrote.
• Credit rating damage: The standoff in the summer of 2011 over the need to raise the nation’s debt ceiling resulted in a downgrade to the U.S. credit rating for the first time in history as the rating agencies lost faith in Washington’s ability to solve is fiscal problems.

• The fiscal cliff: The failure of Congress to address the nation’s critical budget issues means America now faces the “fiscal cliff,” a combination of the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts (which will effectively raise taxes) and mandatory spending cuts agreed to in previous budget deals. The last chance for lawmakers to act is during the lame duck session after the election, but the uncertainty over the fiscal cliff has already slowed business spending.

Needless to say, this Congress has not spent its time wisely.

RELATED: Congress isn’t the only group damaging our economy. Check out what the Fed’s been up to

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Congress has instead preoccupied itself with such frivolities as naming buildings – at least 19 bills this year alone attached a name to a federal building.

And although most lawmakers are back home campaigning, Congress technically is still in session … busy doing absolutely nothing.

Twice a week a handful of representatives meet in the House for a three-minute session — just long enough for a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. And the Senate can’t even muster that effort, with its Oct. 9 session lasting only 25 seconds.

Such incompetence needs to have consequences, or it will go on forever. It’s up to the boss – the American voter – to hand out the pink slips on Nov. 7, the day after Election 2012.

As author and humorist Mark Twain put it: “Politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.”

Related Articles and News:

• Money Morning:
  This Year’s Most Outrageous Examples of Wasteful Government Spending
• Money Morning:
  Why America Hates Congress
• Money Morning:
  Fiscal Cliff Not a Priority for This Do-Nothing Congress
• Gallup:
  Congress Approval Ties All-Time Low at 10%
• Rasmussen Reports:
  New High: 68% Would Vote To Replace Entire Congress
• The Washington Post:
  14 reasons why this is the worst Congress ever
• The Fiscal Times:
  Do Nothing Congress Did Something: Named Buildings
• Sen. Tom Coburn:
  Wastebook 2012