Congress Escapes "Least Productive" Label - Just Barely

The chart above is made from information gathered by the Pew Research Center. It shows the number of laws passed by each of the last eight Congresses (the 106th Congress through the 113th Congress).

The top line represents the total number of laws passed (both ceremonial and substantive). The bottom line represents the number of ceremonial laws (such as the naming of a building, or the recognition of an individual or group). The middle line is the most important, because it represents the number of substantive laws passed by Congress (laws that could affect the lives of many, if not all Americans).

As you can see, the 113th Congress barely missed the label of least productive Congress ever. They just eclipsed the abysmal record of the 112th Congress by passing a few laws in the closing days of the session. But that is nothing to be proud of. The 112th and 113th Congresses were very much the same -- with the Republicans controlling the House, and the Senate Republicans abusing the filibuster to obstruct almost everything.

The American people have been angry with the failure of both the 112th and 113th Congresses to get anything done -- especially to compromise to get the economy moving again and to create enough new jobs. And they have shown that by giving those two Congresses a terrible approval rating (in the very low single and double-digits). And judging by the numbers above (and the current economy), those low approval ratings are justified.

Some think the 114th Congress will be able to do better, and I don't doubt that with Republicans controlling both Houses the GOP will try to pass a lot of new laws. Unfortunately, most of them will be bad for both the country and the economy -- and hopefully, Democratic Senate filibusters and presidential vetoes will kill a lot of them.

I expect the next Congress to be just as unproductive as the last two, because too many politicians are still more interested in playing political games instead of compromising for the good of the country.