CONGRESS is FAILING AMERICA

Congress Is failing
81% of American Public disapprove Congressional Performance
According to the collective wisdom of polling services, the approval rating for Congress has fallen to the lowest level in the history of polling, collecting, and analyzing polling data. "Approval," as defined by Rasmussen Reports, means "excellent" or "good." So defined, only 9% of the registered voters polled believe Congress is doing an excellent or good job - with the obverse being 81% believe Congress is doing a worse than "excellent" or "good" job.

Since the work of Congress is critical to America, the Nation, and all American Citizens, any rating lower than "excellent" or "good" is failing. More than four out of five Americans believe Congress is failing. Other polling services have more favorable results, but the collective conclusion remains that a significant majority of Americans believe Congress is not doing its job.

Polling Disclaimer and Truth Caveat
The validity and reliability of "polling services" at times may seem suspect, biased, and/or agenda-driven. Even so, collectively - unless we subscribe to an X-Files-like theory of a massive conspiracy among polling services (and/or among the media reporting these results) - these polling data reflect an ominous degree of truth on the poor performance of the 110th United States Congress.

Article Disclaimer and Reader Caveat
Reading, reflecting on, and acting on this article and relevant links will take more than 60 seconds. If you, the reader - a citizen of the United States of America - don't have time to invest in America, your home, and yourself - an American citizen - move to Mexico, Venezuela, China, Russia, or anywhere else - just don't stay here sucking up American resources.

What exactly IS the job of Congress?
What does the United States Constitution say?
Article 1 - The Legislative Branch, Section 8 - Powers of Congress, U.S. Constitution stipulates and details the job of Congress. From laying and collecting Taxes, to providing for the Common Defense and General Welfare, to regulating Commerce and regulating the value of money, to declaring War and raising Armies, Congress has been given 18 areas of operational objectives to implement through action plans. Not the least of which is the 18th operational objective: To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

What exactly IS the job of Congress?
What does the American Citizen, one of America's People, say?
One doesn't need to spend months in the Library of Congress, have a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard, or be a Constitutional scholar to have a fair idea of what this means. We don't need to engage in exhaustive item analyses or some other 12-ways-to-Sunday statistical research mumbo-jumbo and then wait for CNN to parse it all to tell us what we should think. Simply, the job of Congress is to propose and enact legislation which will make America a better place for us, America's people.

Measuring the Performance of Congress - A Methodology
What metrics or measures can we apply to evaluate the performance of Congress? Time on task, or the number of days and the number of hours per day in session, can be a performance variable in assessing whether Congress is doing its job or not. So, too, can actionable events or the number of votes recorded be a performance variable. However, these are measures of process - not production or output.

Landmark legislation notwithstanding, the production or output numbers on bills proposed and legislation enacted is a fair indicator of whether Congress is doing its job or not. Simply: (1) how many bills have been proposed? (2) how many articles of legislation have been enacted?

Measuring the Performance of Congress - A Data Set
An in-depth analysis of the performance of Congresses over the last decade or so would be revealing, but unnecessarily cumbersome and time consuming. Consensus on a set of even preliminary findings might be reached some time into the First 100 Days, after the inauguration, of the 44th President of the United States.

This longitudinal perspective is too long, arguably partisan - so inconclusive and not actionable. We, as Americans, don't need another think tank white paper, Ivy League dissertation, or over-FOXed, cutsie media spin. We need direct, substantive, actionable answers now. We need answers we can understand and act on.

To evaluate whether Congress is doing its job, a comparison of the output or production - the number of bills proposed and legislation enacted - by the current, 110th United States Congress with those same measures of prior Congresses across a 12-year period will be sufficient. Using data from The Capitol Net, the performance of the 110th United States Congress, 1st and 2nd Sessions, can be compared with the performance of the 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, 108th, and 109th United States Congresses.

(If you do wish to do an in-depth analysis, see Library of Congress - THOMAS at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html. In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, third President of The United States, legislative information and data, current and historical, are available through this Library of Congress database.)

Performance of 2007 Senate - in summary
The 2007 Senate was in session the highest number of days (190), the greatest number of hours (1,376), proposed the highest number of resolutions/bills (3,033), and recorded the second highest number of votes (442 - second only to 459 in 2003). Yet, the 2007 Senate passed the second fewest acts of legislation (138 - second only to 136 in 2001).

Performance of 2007 House of Representatives - in summary
The 2007 House of Representatives was in session the highest number of days (164), the greatest number of hours (1,478), proposed the highest number of resolutions/bills (6,194), and recorded the highest number of votes (1186). Yet, the 2007 House of Representatives, as the 2007 Senate, passed the second fewest pieces of legislation.

Performance of 110th United States Congress - conclusion
The performance of the 2008 Congress has been little better. The 110th United States Congress performance has been much ado about little, a great deal of sound and fury signifying less. Exhibiting the highest levels of days and hours met, bills proposed, and votes recorded, the output or production of the 110th United States Congress has been abysmally low and dangerously unsatisfactory. This is not media hyperbole. This is not opinion research. This is fact.

Constitutionally, Congress is the federal deliberative body representative of the American People. We, the American People need, require - indeed, must demand insightful and knowledgeable, dedicated and committed Americans meeting their elected responsibility to provide leadership in the provisioning of the laws of the land, this America we call home.

Affirmation of Independence - Redux
"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary...." [ United States Declaration of Independence ]

Some say the future isn't what it used to be. I say it is imperative we reclaim our future and make it as we would have it. The revolution starts with you, your business, your family, your community. You can direct and guide, shape and nurture, what happens here, now - into the future. Communicate and connect. You can be in charge. You can have a voice and a hand in what happens. And you must - our collective future depends on it.
(See "Believe Nationally - When in the Course of Human Events" for the full text. Read, reflect, and act on the self-evident truths.)

Write, email, telephone, FAX your Senator and Representative.

Contact information specific to your Senators and Representative can be accessed through United States Senate at http://www.senate.gov and United States House of Representatives at http://www.house.gov . See also "Contacting the Congress - Online Directory for the 110th Congress" at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress for Congressional telephone, FAX, and email access points. (Enter your street address, city, state, and zip code for a contact list of your respective Congressional members.)

What are the positions of your Senators and Representative? What are your Senators and Representative doing to propose and enact legislation which will make America a better place for us, America's people?

What are your Senators and Representative doing about: globalization, immigration, nuclear proliferation, national security, internet security, global warming and environmental collapse, the federal deficit, trade imbalances, energy independence and energy management, Social Security, public education, college education, employment, job creation, small business, tax codes and systems, economic disparity, poverty, the aging population, Medicare, Medicaid, health care, prescription drugs, drugs and alcohol abuse, gun control, domestic violence, family and community values, et al.?

The United States Congress is not doing its job. Congress is failing America. Senators and Representatives of the 110th Congress should be fired at the election box and replaced with those Americans able, ready, and willing to do the job. It is past time for Republicans and Democrats; it is time for Americans.

It is time for Americans to assume individual and collective responsibilities of American citizenship. It is time for Americans to act.

Once again, it becomes necessary.... Don't you, too, fail America.
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See "The United States Senate is Failing America - Senators Whose Term Expires January 3, 2009," published August 12, 2000 and "The United States House of Representatives is Failing America - Representatives Whose Term Expires January 3, 2009," forthcoming, for further, actionable information.