Congress' grade

What kind of rating does the recent Congress deserve?
Someone whose judgement I trust recently sent me this link to a very extensive article in Rolling Stone entitled, "The Worst Congress Ever." To quote a couple of paragraphs that just about sum it up,

These past six years were more than just the most shameful, corrupt and incompetent period in the history of the American legislative branch. These were the years when the U.S. parliament became a historical punch line, a political obscenity on par with the court of Nero or Caligula -- a stable of thieves and perverts who committed crimes rolling out of bed in the morning and did their very best to turn the mighty American empire into a debt-laden, despotic backwater, a Burkina Faso with cable. . .
One could go on and on about the scandals and failures of the past six years; to document them all would take . . . well, it would take more than ninety-three (expleteve deleted) days, that's for sure. But you can boil the whole sordid mess down to a few basic concepts. Sloth. Greed. Abuse of power. Hatred of democracy. Government as a cheap backroom deal, finished in time for thirty-six holes of the world's best golf. And brains too stupid to be ashamed of any of it. If we have learned nothing else in the Bush years, it's that this Congress cannot be reformed. The only way to change it is to get rid of it.

Fortunately, we still get that chance once in a while.

The author, Matt Taibbi, wrote under 5 searing categories pertaining to the 109th Congress. I paraphrase, "Rule by cabal. . . Work as little as possible. . . Let the President do whatever he wants. . . Spend, spend, spend. . . Line your own pockets."
I have to admit that I had no idea what a "Burkina Faso" is, so I "googled" it. It turns out that it is a West African country, according to the IRIN News Organization. Perhaps that nation should be insulted by the comparison.

A grade from me would be a D-. The reason it is not an F is because they did meet and transact business. Second, the Democrats were in the minority, systematically shut out of the entire process by the Republican majority. And I have several favorite Senators, including Republicans, who perhaps did the best they could under the circumstances.

Where they failed me, personally, was missed potential. Think about these hypotheticals:

• What if Congress held hearings - or even a couple of weeks of real debate - before the vote about whether to go to war with Iraq or not? We might have fought only in Afghanistan, crippled al Qaeda earlier, and saved hundreds of American soldiers' lives and several trillions of our national treasure.
• What if the rule of "PayGo," pay as you go, applied to spending bills? And what if we did not pass any tax cuts in wartime? We might have a manageable budget deficit, or even a surplus.
• What if the "unitary presidency" was stopped in its tracks by bipartisan committee chairs who led the fight to protect the constitution from an assault that now leaves American civil rights at the mercy of executive whim? The nation might be far more safe from terrorists' attacks.
• What if there had been an actual domestic program? School kids might be achieving at their potential. Workers might be able to only hold one job. We might have a safe food supply. Citizens might be able to go to the doctor when they are really sick. And power might come from more sources than only fossil fuels.
• What if the Congress looked at the Gulf Coast as essential to the nation's well-being? New Orleans might have working levees and the rest of the coast might have more restored homes than FEMA trailers.
• What if Congress took pride in being the peoples' representatives, not just representing political parties or special interests? Democrats and Republicans might have lunch together again.

What if?! What if?! It was not to be. But that was then and this is now. November 7 is coming, and I hope the pendulum will begin to swing back to where it belongs.
Tags: congress bush politics news election 2006 scandal