The Dead Branch
Today, most lawmakers can't seem to get out of town fast enough. This year, they’ll work less than any time since 1948, when Harry Truman famously blasted a do-nothing, good-for-nothing Congress.
The ugly little secret is that today's Congress is no longer in the business of governing. It may shock you to learn that Congress only works about two days a week and it's never been worse than it is right now.
Congress has become the Tuesday through Thursday club, with lawmakers enjoying a work schedule most Americans can only dream of, pulling in $165,000 for what has become a part-time job.
A recent "New York Times" poll found most Americans can't name a single major piece of legislation that made its way through this Congress. Social Security reform, tougher immigration laws, and tighter ethics standards didn’t happen.
In the 1960s and '70s, Congress met an average of 161 days a year. In the '80s and '90s, that number dropped to 139 days. This year, Congress will probably end up working just about 100 days.
Jim Cooper, a Democrat, grew up in the world of political campaigns. His father, was governor of Tennessee. In 1982, Jim ran for office and won a seat in Congress. There was partisanship during the day, but according to Cooper at night, you’d go have a beer or dinner with a person on the other side of the aisle.
In 1994, the year of the Gingrich revolution, Jim Cooper put his House seat on the line to run for the Senate. He lost, and went back home to Tennessee. In 2002, Cooper ran for the House again and returned to a very different Congress. Today, there are very few real hearings and very few debates. The atmosphere had become raw and angry.
In 2001, for the first time in nearly 50 years, Republicans controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. Bush runs the show and congressional Republicans see themselves as lieutenants in Bush's army. Congressional Republicans have given the president a free hand and an open checkbook to launch the war in Iraq.
The ugly little secret is that today's Congress is no longer in the business of governing. It may shock you to learn that Congress only works about two days a week and it's never been worse than it is right now.
Congress has become the Tuesday through Thursday club, with lawmakers enjoying a work schedule most Americans can only dream of, pulling in $165,000 for what has become a part-time job.
A recent "New York Times" poll found most Americans can't name a single major piece of legislation that made its way through this Congress. Social Security reform, tougher immigration laws, and tighter ethics standards didn’t happen.
In the 1960s and '70s, Congress met an average of 161 days a year. In the '80s and '90s, that number dropped to 139 days. This year, Congress will probably end up working just about 100 days.
Jim Cooper, a Democrat, grew up in the world of political campaigns. His father, was governor of Tennessee. In 1982, Jim ran for office and won a seat in Congress. There was partisanship during the day, but according to Cooper at night, you’d go have a beer or dinner with a person on the other side of the aisle.
In 1994, the year of the Gingrich revolution, Jim Cooper put his House seat on the line to run for the Senate. He lost, and went back home to Tennessee. In 2002, Cooper ran for the House again and returned to a very different Congress. Today, there are very few real hearings and very few debates. The atmosphere had become raw and angry.
In 2001, for the first time in nearly 50 years, Republicans controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. Bush runs the show and congressional Republicans see themselves as lieutenants in Bush's army. Congressional Republicans have given the president a free hand and an open checkbook to launch the war in Iraq.
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