The 111th Congress is officially over, and according to Gallup, it’s also officially the worst Congress in the history of polling. Yet despite its 13% approval rating there are those who are hailing the 111th Congress for its myriad legislative “accomplishments.” Not surprisingly, many of those touting those “accomplishments” are the very members of Congress who voted for the legislation in the first place. Starting at the top with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), you find a woman who is not at all ashamed of the legislation she has passed, despite …
The lame duck Congress is a clone of Marvin K. Mooney. He’s the Dr. Seuss character who refused to leave. Refusing to accept the voters’ record-low approval of Congress (13 percent according to Gallup) and refusing to accept their rejection by voters, those running the show are clinging to their last strands of power until the last possible moment. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) announced, “There is still Congress after Christmas. So if the Republicans think that because they can stall and stall and stall, that we take …
Brand-new Congressmen don’t take office until January, but they’re already consumed with worry about the national debt. They’ll be faced with a vote expected next year to raise the debt ceiling beyond its current $14.3-trillion (about $47,000 apiece for everyone in America). The current $14.3-trillion debt ceiling has almost doubled since May 27, 2003, when it was set at $7.4-trillion. Projections show we’ll reach our credit limit around May of 2011, pushed along by three straight years of trillion-dollar deficits, including an expected $1.5-trillion this year. Congress should not feel …
As Members of Congress limp out of Washington to face their constituents, it’s worth reviewing their accomplishments—or lack thereof. The most basic function of Congress is to manage the public purse. The most basic step in managing finances—whether of a family, a business, a state, or a nation—is to pass a budget identifying expected revenues and intended outlays. As per his responsibility, the President laid out his budget in great detail in January. For the first time in modern memory, the House of Representatives did not even attempt to pass …
Predicting the extent of “lame duck” legislative shenanigans that would ensue if one or both houses of Congress changes hands in the Nov. 2 elections became a Washington parlor game during the August recess. But this is serious stuff to anyone who cares about, oh, limited government, rule of law, free markets and individual liberty. Not content with the damage they’ve already done, liberal lawmakers could really go for broke should they find themselves on the outs come the morning of Nov. 3. One endangered liberal, Senate Majority Leader Harry …
Heritage’s sister organization, Heritage Action for America, recently released a video asking this very question. It is a humorous video (starring veteran actor Clint Howard) that points to a more serious problem. Where are the congressmen in August? Are they holding townhall meetings to address constituent concerns? If not, what are they hiding? Are they ashamed that they did not pass a budget? Ashamed of the vote on Health Care? We have written about all this Congress has done in the last two years, and the August recess is a …
This Congress has broken a lot of ground, but for all the wrong reasons. Now it has another ridiculous notch to add to its belt: Congress is poised to pass a major piece of legislation without bothering to give it a name. To recap, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told us that health care reform would have to pass before we could find out what’s in it. Then, for the first time since the modern budgetary process was enacted, the House decided not to pass a budget (avoiding one of its …
Using the classic Washington fib that “It’s paid for,” Congress is spending an extra $26-billion to bail out state governments (who already got the lions’ share of last year’s failed $787-billion “stimulus” bill). The House will rush back from a six-week recess to spend the money next week—an urgency that they instead should show to fix the economy by removing the twin threats of Jan. 1 tax hikes plus a bundle of job-killing regulations. The $26-billion won’t fix the jobs crisis in the private sector, but instead gives job security …
On Saturday, June 26, America Speaks will host a national town hall meeting in which any and all Americans will be able to voice their opinions on the federal budget and the devastating effects that Washington’s growing deficits will have on the U.S. economy. The discussion will focus on ways to address the fiscal crisis before it is too late. Federal deficits are growing due to increasing spending, not because of a lack of revenue. Heritage budget expert Brian Riedl explains in a recent paper: The composition of spending has …
President Obama came to Washington to restore trust in government. A new Pew Research Center survey indicates he’s failed. Just 22% of the poll’s respondents said they trust the federal government almost always or most of the time. That’s one of the all-time low points in the survey and represents a decline from when Obama took office. The last time Americans felt this discontent with Washington was 1994. The similarities are eerie: A newly elected Democrat was in the White House, the country was recovering from a recession, and President …
