A "Do Nothing" Congress

The Congress of 2006 is shaping up to be another "do nothing" body, a flashback to Truman's 1948 re-election run for the presidency. According to the Houston Chronicle, "With two-thirds of the 2006 legislative calendar over, Congress has passed and sent President Bush only two major pieces of legislation. One renewed the terrorist-fighting USA Patriot Act; the other extended $70 billion in tax cuts."

Fox adds that a House-passed embryonic stem cell research bill might get a Senate vote this summer. President Bush has threatened a veto; it would be his first.

And despite bi-partisan support from House leaders, southern Republicans and those opposed to bilingual ballots blocked a scheduled vote renewing the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The protest was led by freshman Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA). President Bush has called the renewal a "top priority."

Part-Time Work, Full-Time Salary, Big-Time Expense
Base salary this year is $165,200. In the first two months of 2006, the House spent 47 hours in session. If it sticks to the current schedule, total days in session will be 97.

According to the Library of Congress, the House has spent 65 legislative days in session this year. Last year, the House was in session 141 days -- twice as many. In 2004, it was 110, a third more. In 2000, Mother Jones inaugurated "do nothing" awards for a House that had 138 legislative days in 1999.

For context, "during the 1960s and ’70s, Congress averaged 323 days in session." And when Truman created that "do nothing" soundbite, Congress was in session only 108 days, according to USA Today.

Part of the credit for the reduced hours inside the Beltway is a late Tuesday afternoon-to-Thursday afternoon schedule. Congressmen do spend more time in their districts -- but are they working for constituents or fundraising?

In 1976, House candidates spent an average of $70,000 on an election campaign. By 1996, the average winner of a House seat spent $673,000. To unseat an incumbent that year, the challenger spent an average of $1.07 million. In 2004, the average winner spent of a House seat spent $1,033,538. In the Senate, a winning seat cost $7,172,908.

Remember, the base salary is $165,200. House members need to raise almost $3K a day over a 365-day period. Senators, who stand for re-election every six years, would need to raise almost $20K a day over 365 days or almost $7K a day over a three-year period.

Spending Bill Focus
An aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) reports: "We’re getting to the point where odd-numbered years are years in which we can get stuff done... Even-numbered years have become so partisan and politicized around here that it makes it more difficult."

Frist reportedly is focused on getting two spending bills passed before November -- defense and homeland security. Not surprisingly, "[b]ills that clamp down on federal aid to education, health research and grants to local governments and police departments will wait until after Election Day... The GOP-dominated House has passed 10 appropriations bills this year, covering all of government except education, health, welfare and jobs programs. The bill for them is stuck while GOP leaders figure out how to deal with a minimum-wage increase that Democrats succeeded at including."

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