The
U.S. Congress is quite unpopular. It seems never to get anything
done. It also has made a shambles of the national budget and let the
infrastructure rot. The people wonder why.
The
answer is fairly simple. Each member of congress pursues
self-interest rather than national interest. Collectively they pass a
lot of bills to benefit their local constituents and flunk national
interests. Congress has processed more than 10,000 bills passed per
session the past twenty years on average with maybe 375 on average
being passed into law, yet very few major, quality, reformative
works that satisfy the public and assure the health of the
environment, public finance or the economic interests of the people
were part of that. The public regards congress as do nothings except
to pass pork and perversion.
If
one were to make a list of the top ten goals for each two-year
session of congress that required congressional action to accomplish,
few congresses since the 1970s have got two of ten done. Some got a
zero.
The news media does keep a narrative of issues and contentious public issues going. That takes time and Congresspersons respond and put in their two cents worth, then collect campaign contributions and plan for re-election. The real, solid national issues that never go away and tend to get worse are buried under the headlines.
I
can make a list of ten goals for any congress to get done that is
fairly simple. Obviously people would disagree with the list all or
in part. That in itself is part of the problem. Even so a congress
must have such a list of priorities and work to accomplish those with
equal energy as they pursue pork for their districts. Plainly getting
a congress to accomplish a few of the staid goals would be a great
achievement. Getting them to do anything new would be nearly
impossible. The Apollo program required the treat of Soviets getting
to the moon first and making a commune of it. No such competitive
pressure exists today.
1)
Balance federal budget
2)
Eliminate national debt
3)
Secure borders against illegal entry
4)
Rebuild public infrastructure with new technology
5)
Assure adequate guaranteed minimum income for all citizens
6)
Provide free health care to all the poor
7)
Stop loss of species and restore ecosystem health
8)
Reform national incarceration system and stop crime
9)
Eliminate North Korean nuclear weapons
10)
Enforce equal protection of the law for all Americans in practice
