The 112th Congress has left the building, and the reviews are not glowing. When your greatest accomplishment is narrowly averting two disasters you yourself made possible, you’re not a faithful public servant, you’re a drunk school bus driver who heroically avoids crashing into the brothel you just set on fire.
Let’s review:
In August 2011, the 112th brought the U.S. government to the brink of a credit default during its standoff over the debt ceiling, freaking everyone out and likely causing the downgrading of U.S. credit.
More recently, Congress waited until the 11th hour to pull the country back from the fiscal cliff (which it had created), freaking everyone out and depriving retailers of the momentum they should have been able to build up over the holiday season.
Yup, those are pretty much the highlights. Watching C-SPAN over the last two years was a little like watching Mr. Magoo stroll through a construction site. The best that can be said of this Congress is that when that bath salts face-eating zombie hobo famously went amok in Florida back in May, it didn’t turn out to be Michele Bachmann. So that was one bright spot, at least.
Of course, the 112th Congress did manage to vote 33 times on a repeal of Obamacare, even though the effort had zero chance of succeeding. Well done.
So what did the 112th achieve? Well, it managed to pass some laws, though as The Washington Post notes, it was the smallest number in modern history (fewer than 250).
And if you look over the list, you’ll see that a large percentage of them are – to be charitable – pretty much useless.
Here’s just a partial list of things Congress managed to accomplishbefore taking on the fiscal cliff problem:
- Designated the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2810 East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, Fla., as the “Reverend Abe Brown Post Office Building.” (There were a lot of these “naming” bills. For whatever reason, this is my favorite.)
- Required the Secretary of the Treasury to “mint coins in commemoration of the 225th anniversary of the establishment of the Nation’s first Federal law enforcement agency, the United States Marshals Service.”
- Required the Secretary of the Treasury “to mint coins in recognition and celebration of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.”
- Prohibited members of Congress and employees of Congress “from using nonpublic information derived from their official positions for personal benefit, and for other purposes.” (Um, great. Can’t argue with that one. But why is this just getting addressed now, approximately 223 years too late? I’ll be anxiously awaiting the 113th Congress’ Dead Hooker Disposal Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2013.)
- Amended the John F. Kennedy Center Act “to authorize appropriations for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and for other purposes.”
- Provided for the conveyance of certain parcels of land to the town of Alta, Utah.
- Promoted the development of the southwest waterfront in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.
- Authorized the architect of the Capitol “to establish battery recharging stations for privately owned vehicles in parking areas under the jurisdiction of the Senate at no net cost to the Federal Government.” (Hey, I’ve got no problem with electric vehicles, but is this really a priority? Can we make sure their cars are all equipped with beaded seat covers and appropriately sized cup holders, too?)
- Passed the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 “to prohibit the sale of billfish.” (Finally, Congress shows some backbone in the face of intense lobbying from powerful billfish-mongering interests.)
- Confirmed “full ownership rights for certain United States astronauts to artifacts from the astronauts’ space missions.” (Can you believe Buzz Aldrin’s moon rock desk paperweight and zero-gravity Tang thermos were still property of the U.S. government? Where’s the Tea Party when you really need it?)
No doubt many Republicans see this do-little Congress as an army of conquering heroes. After all, when you’re fighting the imaginary socialist agenda, obstruction surely looks like the best course. And considering how reactionary, right-wing, and downright crazy many of our recently elected representatives are, it’s amazing an official death-to-billfish House caucus didn’t coalesce in the summer and early fall of 2012.
Still, is it too much to ask for more sanity and foresight from the next gaggle of nimrods? I hardly think so.
Let’s just hope the next Congress can get out of its own way – and ours.
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