Watermelons and baseball...just your typical Democrat Congress

Laziest Congress in 20 Years - Literally

(Image from blogwaybaby.com)

WSJ on 8-19-08, "As U.S. Economic Problems Loom, House, Senate Sweat the Small Stuff: Members of Congress Love A Good Resolution. Watermelons and Undertakers Fill the Bill" by Elizabeth Williamson.

The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn't passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word "baseball."

Congress has passed the fewest laws passed in 20 years:

...this group of 535 men and women will have accomplished a rare feat. In two decades of record keeping, no sitting Congress has passed fewer public laws at this point in the session -- 294 so far -- than this one...

But it has passed the most resolutions in 20 years:

On the flip side, no Congress in the same 20 years has been so prolific when it comes to proposing resolutions -- more than 1,900, according to a tally by the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense.

...Congress has saluted such milestones as the Idaho Potato Commission's 70th anniversary and recognized soil as an "essential natural resource." As legislation on gasoline prices, tax fixes and predatory lending languish, Congress has designated May 5-9 as National Substitute Teacher Recognition Week, and set July 28 as the Day of the American Cowboy.

... In the 435-member House, fully one-quarter of the workweek is typically devoted to debating and passing symbolic measures.

But is Congress doing its major function?

Congress, which won't return to session until September, has yet to pass any 2009 appropriations bills, even though funding the federal budget is its official function.

"The Democrats in charge of this Congress have been heavy on fluff and light on substance," says Republican leader Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. "Resolutions are fine but why aren't we also passing legislation to lower gas prices? What about health-care reform and runaway entitlement spending?"

Perpetual motion machine - Congress using resolutions to look busy.

"Resolutions are a perpetual motion machine," says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Not only do you create Heat Stroke Awareness Month, every year after that you recognize the importance of Heat Stroke Awareness Month. You never move on to substantive legislation."

H/T Herry Phelps http://www.gerrycharlottephelps.com/2008/09/laziest-congres.html