A Productive Congress gets no Respect

The title of this post is taken from an AP article that is on the wires today. In essence, the AP reporter Jim Abrams says that the current congress was the most productive since the congress in 1965-1966, but it gets no credit from the public for its accomplishments. One has to wonder where the AP gets its reporters; have they graduated from the New School of Brainwashing? To call the current Congress "productive", is like calling a mass murderer successful. True, the murderer, like the congress, did a lot of what he set out to achieve. The problem is that what got done was destructive to society. I find it appalling that a reporter could just call all of this productive.

What were the biggest achievements to which the AP points? First, the stimulus which spent close to a trillion dollars with no discernable benefit to the economy. Yes, Democrats got the program passed, but it was promised to keep unemployment below 8%. Indeed, we were told that if it were not passed, unemployment would crest close to 10%. so the bill got passed and we got the worst case anyway. The second big "achievement" is Obamacare. That program was supposed to bend down the cost curve for insurance and give coverage to millions who are now without it. So what has happened so far? Premiums for health insurance are soaring as the mandates of the new law go into effect. In addition, many folks are losing coverage as plans that no longer meet government requirements are cancelled. Even the special high risk plans for those with pre-existing conditions are only enrolling about 2% of the numbers expected. That's right, the number was not a misprint. TWO PERCENT of the expected numbers are enrollling in the high risk plans. So after making this great coverage available, only one person in fifty of those expected has actually enrolled in the plan. The public gets a plan that was passed over its strident objections which has succeeded in raising premiums for all and reducing insurance coverage. That is not "productive".

The article also goes on to say that in 1966, Democrats lost big in the congressional elections due to factors beyond their control and that is repeating itself now. This is just idiocy! Democrats controll Congress and could easily have refused to pass the stimulus or the health care monstrosity. Indeed, they could have taken concrete steps to help put the country back to work. They chose not to do so. No matter what the AP says, the disaster Democrats are facing is of their own making. They sowed and now they shall reap. And in this case, the reaping will come from the Grim Reaper.