Behind The Mic With Joe Mathieu: Congress Could Be Least Productive Ever
BOSTON (CBS) – Imagine if you went to work and didn't get anything done. Someone would probably notice and you'd have to deal with the consequences.
Not the case for Congress, whose approval ratings just keep falling - now into the single digits. The latest Gallup survey gives them just 9% approval. And the feeling cuts across political lines with Democrats, Republicans and Independents all giving Congress a big fat thumbs down.
And it's no mystery why - gridlock. Means nothing gets done. And that's when lawmakers actually go to work.
In fact reporter Matt Viser wrote a great story in the Globe today tallying the amount of actual work this Congress has done. You may not be surprised to learn this body is on track to be the least productive Congress ever, approving only 55 laws.
That's compared to what Harry Truman once called the "Do Nothing Congress" which passed over 500 laws.
Indeed this group of men and women may be best remembered for what it did not do.
Of course they were not even able to keep the government funded all year. We got a partial government shutdown instead of the grand bargain on taxes and spending that many hoped for.
Never mind that, we don't even have a budget. And attempts to reform immigration and gun laws have also gone nowhere in this Congress.
Let me take it a step further. Not only are lawmakers falling down on the job, they're also in perpetual campaign mode. Kind of like if you spent most of your time in the office looking for another job.
Follow Joe on Twitter @joemathieuwbz
