Congressional Report Card: Straight Fs

by   |  October 12, 2006

Where in the world could you work for less than 100 days, perform at below the bare minimum and earn a fat check every payday? Try the second session of the 109th Congress for starters. Setting an all-time record of unproductiveness, the House and the Senate at least seem to have worked hard at something: earning the well-deserved moniker of a “Do-Nothing Congress.” Failing to fulfill even its core responsibility to make budget and spending decisions, Congress has recessed without completing a budget plan for this year. Instead, it passed a spending reduction bill that increased Medicare premiums, froze payments to home health care providers, increased co-payments for prescription drugs and cut student loans and child support enforcement. Clearly showing where its priorities lie, it passed a mere two appropriations bills: defense and homeland security. Left on the wayside were issues such as:

• An increase in the minimum wage which has remained stagnant at $5.15/hour for nine years while members of Congress get an automatic annual raise
• The Employee Free Choice Act which provides for card check in union organizing campaigns
• Fixing the Medicare “donut hole” where millions of the elderly are being forced to pay the full cost of their medications even as they pay their premiums

It is clear that this Congress has not only neglected its responsibilities but also the needs of working families. Having had enough time to prove it can serve the American people well, it has failed miserably.