The Week: Most Recent Congress:112th Congress

10 insulting labels for the outgoing 112th Congress

The Week — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:25:00 -0500

The widely criticized 112th Congress is officially history. The members of the 113th Congress converged on Capitol Hill to take office on Thursday. They'll inherit looming fights over raising the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling, and deep spending cuts postponed for two months under the last-minute deal to avoid the worst economic damage from the fiscal cliff. The new Congress, like the outgoing one, will be bitterly divided, with a Democratic Senate majority that was fortified in the November elections, and Republican House majority facing an internal rebellion from tax-averse conservatives fuming...

Fiscal-cliff drama: John Boehner reportedly told Harry Reid to go f--- himself

The Week — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:47:00 -0500

After a chaotic day of wailing Republican angst, the House on Tuesday night finally passed a bill that would extend the Bush tax cuts for all but the wealthiest Americans. The bill's passage caps months of maddeningly inconclusive negotiations between the White House and several players in Congress, and it wasn't until the last couple days that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Joe Biden crafted a compromise that was able to pass the Senate with flying bipartisan colors.

Of course, it seems unlikely that the compromise will herald a new era of comity between the...

After the election: Could civility possibly return to D.C.?

The Week — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:20:00 -0500

House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama are promising to move forward in the spirit of compromise as they restart budget negotiations to strike a debt-reduction deal and avoid a potentially devastating round of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes — the so-called fiscal cliff — looming at year's end. "If there's a mandate in [Tuesday's] election, it's a mandate for us to find a way to work together," said Boehner, leader of the Republican-controlled House. Polls show that the public is deeply frustrated by gridlock in Washington, especially on Capitol Hill. Post-election Washington...

Congress' enormous gender pay-gap: By the numbers

The Week — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:19:00 -0400

The enduring pay gap between men and women has long been one of the most stubborn symbols of gender inequality, and in few places is that more obvious than in Congress, says Matt Berman at The National Journal. Women staffers on Capitol Hill make significantly less than their male colleagues, a disparity that is partly explained by the fact that high-level congressional jobs are often occupied by males — leaving the paper-pushing and appointment-making to the ladies. And the gap is most glaring in Republican ranks. Here, a numerical guide to Congress' gender pay gap:

$5,862.56
Average difference...

3 reasons Congress sounds less intelligent than ever

The Week — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:45:00 -0400

The language employed by members of Congress in their public speeches has fallen a whole grade level in the last seven years, according to a new study. Using the Flesch-Kincaid test, which assigns higher grade levels for the use of longer words and more complex sentences, the Sunlight Foundation concluded that the average lawmaker speaks at a 10th grade level, down from the 11th grade level in 2005, but still two or three grades higher than the typical American. Why do our elected leaders sound like high school sophomores? Here, three explanations:

1. Extremism makes lawmakers sound stupid
"Polarization...

Are the GOP's budget cuts anti-poor?

The Week — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:00:00 -0400

This week, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill to cut nearly $250 billion from the budget deficit over the next 10 years, and a large chunk of the cuts come from programs to aid the poor. The GOP plan — which has no chance of passing in the Democrat-controlled Senate, but will inevitably become an election issue — would cancel food stamps for two million struggling Americans, cut health insurance for children, and scale back programs for the elderly and disabled, like Meals on Wheels. Such draconian cuts fail a "basic moral test," says the U.S. Conference of Catholic...

Boehner vs. Obama: Who's really responsible for the mess in D.C.?

The Week — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:55:00 -0400

The long-running feud between President Obama and the GOP House leadership is raging once again. Obama has been telling college students in swing states that Republicans aren't committed to preventing federal student loan rates from doubling, scolding Congress for playing politics instead of passing laws. House Speaker John Boehner responded Sunday by charging that it's Obama who's poisoning the atmosphere in Washington, "diminishing the presidency by picking fake fights" with the GOP. Whose fault is it that the two parties can't seem to work together?

That's easy. Republicans are the problem...

How indefinite detention snuck into Obama's defense bill

The Week — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:30:00 -0400

In December, President Obama angered politicians of all stripes by signing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a broad defense bill that included a controversial provision about indefinite detention. Specifically, the provision gave the president expansive power to seize suspected terrorists and keep them in detention without charge or trial, even on U.S. soil.

According to critics, this part of the bill essentially put the controversial policies of the George W. Bush administration into hard law, shattering Obama's previous promise to stop indefinite detention and adhere to the...

Is Congress finally working together to save the economy?

The Week — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:00:00 -0400

"Good news, frustrated American citizens! Congress is not a clogged up, hidebound legislative slug after all," says Gail Collins at The New York Times. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a $109 billion transportation bill that lawmakers claim will save or create nearly three million jobs. Last week, the House passed a more modest measure — known as the JOBS Act — intended to help small businesses. Both bills passed with strong bipartisan support, and coming after years of exhausting, relentless bickering, observers say something new is afoot on Capitol Hill. Here, a guide to the sudden...

Why Washington needs backroom deals

The Week — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:00:00 -0500

Aspiring aisle-crossers everywhere bemoaned the news last week that Sen. Olympia Snowe, the famously moderate Republican of Maine, had decided to forfeit her safe seat in the U.S. Senate rather than face another six years of dodging the partisan manure that has come to be flung day and night through the hallowed halls of that institution. My reaction was just a wee bit different: Snowe's retirement is a reminder that we ought to bring back the smoke-filled room and the deals that used to get made in it. We should hope that our top leaders hold more top-secret meetings, and pray that they keep...

Congress' contraceptives hearing: 'Where are the women?'

The Week — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:00:00 -0500

The White House may have compromised on a new rule requiring employers to offer copay-free coverage for contraception — offering religiously affiliated employers an exemption — but the latest conflagration in the culture wars rages on. At a hearing Thursday convened by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), five male witnesses, all religious leaders, explained why the regulation still assaults their religious beliefs. When Democrats asked Issa to invite some female witnesses, he said the debate was about religious freedom, not "reproductive rights and contraception." Before storming out, Rep...

The growing wealth gap between Congress and constituents: By the numbers

The Week — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:06:00 -0500

The economic disparity between U.S. Congress members and the constituents they represent is growing, according to new data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Between 2004 and 2010, the median net worth of members of Congress jumped 15 percent, while the median net worth for the average American dropped eight percent. This is concerning, says Peter Whoriskey at The Washington Post, because "the growth of income inequality has tracked very closely with measures of political polarization." Here’s how the widening gap breaks down:

$280,000
Median net worth of a House member in 1984, adjusted...

Is PolitiFact's 'Lie of the Year' a lie itself?

The Week — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:09:00 -0500

Celebrated fact-checking organization PolitiFact, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the 2008 election, unveiled its "Lie of the Year" on Tuesday, and for the third year running, the top fib is about government-managed health care. Unlike the last two winners — GOP claims that the Democrats' health care reform plan created "death panels" (2009) and was a "government takeover of health care" (2010) — 2011's marquee lie dinged the Left. PolitiFact says the biggest lie of 2011 was the Democrats' assertion that by approving Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) controversial budget, "Republicans...

Secret Santa in the Senate: The wisecracks

The Week — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:19:00 -0500

In a bid to spread some Christmas cheer among warring Democrats and Republicans, Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) have organized the Senate's first "Secret Santa" gift exchange. Fifty-eight senators have signed up, 21 Republicans and 37 Democrats. Johanns tells Reuters the exchange could ease tensions on Capitol Hill, although he doesn't "have any great expectations that we will suddenly fix Medicare and Social Security and the budget." That may be true, but the gimmick did give political commentators a fresh, much-appreciated reason to ridicule Congress. Here, a sampling of...

'In God We Trust': Did Congress waste time reaffirming the U.S. motto?

The Week — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:11:00 -0400

In a 396-9 vote, the House of Representatives reaffirmed "In God We Trust" as the nation's motto on Wednesday. The resolution's Republican sponsor said it would clear up any confusion President Obama created by once referring mistakenly to "E Pluribus Unum" — a Latin phrase meaning "out of many, one" — as our motto. ("In God We Trust" replaced "E Pluribus Unum" in 1956.) Obama mocked Congress for frittering away its day on such a symbolic gesture instead of focusing on creating jobs. Wednesday's debate only took 35 minutes — was it really a waste of time?

Of course. Congress has...

Will Congress' abysmal approval rating save Obama?

The Week — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:16:00 -0400

Many Americans have soured on President Obama, judging by his flagging approval poll numbers, but the nation's opinion of Congress is far worse. While just 39 percent approved of the president in a recent survey, Gallup says only 13 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, a tie for the lowest mark recorded since the pollster began tracking such matters in 1974. Will the public's disappointment with the politicians on Capitol Hill, including the Republicans who control the House, shield Obama from a voter backlash in 2012?

Yes, disgust with Congress could help Obama: This plays...