113th Congress Barely Avoids Being Least Productive In History
The just-concluded session of Congress wasn’t history’s least productive one, but it was close. Pew says it was only because of a spurt of late activity that helped skirt the bottom of the barrel.
Click here for reuse options!Our calculation finds that the 113th just barely avoided the dubious title of “least productive Congress in modern history.” But that’s only because of an exceptionally active lame duck session.
In all, the expiring Congress enacted 296 laws, 13 more than the 2011-12 Congress. Of those, we categorized 212 as substantive by our deliberately generous criteria (that is, anything besides building renamings, commemorative-coin issuances and other purely ceremonial laws); that was four more than the previous Congress.
Copyright 2014 Liberaland
24 responses to 113th Congress Barely Avoids Being Least Productive In History
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edmeyer_able December 30th, 2014 at 12:31
Looks like boehner will have to WORK HARDER to beat that record but maybe by taking a few more vacation days he will suckseed……/s
granpa.usthai December 30th, 2014 at 14:48
downing a fifth of scotch at every recess might help?
edmeyer_able December 30th, 2014 at 15:10
That would be cutting back for him.
rg9rts December 30th, 2014 at 17:09
He should stick to whine or he’ll pass out in the tanning booth..
edmeyer_able December 30th, 2014 at 13:31
Looks like boehner will have to WORK HARDER to beat that record but maybe by taking a few more vacation days he will suckseed……/s
granpa.usthai December 30th, 2014 at 15:48
downing a fifth of scotch at every recess might help?
edmeyer_able December 30th, 2014 at 16:10
That would be cutting back for him.
rg9rts December 30th, 2014 at 18:09
He should stick to whine or he’ll pass out in the tanning booth..
Anomaly 100 December 30th, 2014 at 12:42
Whew!
Anomaly 100 December 30th, 2014 at 13:42
Whew!
Robert M. Snyder December 30th, 2014 at 13:01
This is a meaningless metric. The Affordable Care Act is a single law. It could have been implemented as dozens of separate acts containing exactly the same provisions. If Congress didn’t cram so many things into each law, then there would be a lot more separate laws passed per year.
granpa.usthai December 30th, 2014 at 14:46
‘Boehner’s Busy Beavers’ could also initiate legislation to enter pre-bill resolutions to double/triple/quadruple legislation. (rack up on meaningless numbers that way without actually doing a damn thing).
if they milk their jobs any slower, they can give the people a slice of aged cheese at the end of each calendar year.
Robert M. Snyder December 30th, 2014 at 14:01
This is a meaningless metric. The Affordable Care Act is a single law. It could have been implemented as dozens of separate acts containing exactly the same provisions. If Congress didn’t cram so many things into each law, then there would be a lot more separate laws passed per year.
granpa.usthai December 30th, 2014 at 15:46
‘Boehner’s Busy Beavers’ could also initiate legislation to enter pre-bill resolutions to double/triple/quadruple legislation. (rack up on meaningless numbers that way without actually doing a damn thing).
if they milk their jobs any slower, they can give the people a slice of aged cheese at the end of each calendar year.
Robert M. Snyder December 30th, 2014 at 13:03
“Fifty years ago, for instance, the 88th Congress enacted 666 laws that averaged just 3 pages each, compared with 16.78 pages apiece for the 72 laws passed last year by the current Congress.”
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/23/congress-still-on-track-to-be-among-least-productive-in-recent-history/
Robert M. Snyder December 30th, 2014 at 14:03
“Fifty years ago, for instance, the 88th Congress enacted 666 laws that averaged just 3 pages each, compared with 16.78 pages apiece for the 72 laws passed last year by the current Congress.”
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/09/23/congress-still-on-track-to-be-among-least-productive-in-recent-history/
fahvel December 30th, 2014 at 15:01
why must a congress continue to write/ enact new laws at a non stop rate? Be nice, be honest, and treat everyone with exceptional equality and there ya go – no more laws necessary.
Robert M. Snyder December 30th, 2014 at 22:57
A system of laws is like a software program. It starts out small and simple, but gradually becomes large and complex as more and more pieces are bolted on. For a mature system, the goal is not to keep writing more software, but to clean up, consolidate, and streamline what already exists, with the benefit of hindsight.
The true function of legislators is not just to create new legislation, but to clean up, consolidate, and streamline existing legislation.
fahvel December 30th, 2014 at 16:01
why must a congress continue to write/ enact new laws at a non stop rate? Be nice, be honest, and treat everyone with exceptional equality and there ya go – no more laws necessary.
Robert M. Snyder December 30th, 2014 at 23:57
A system of laws is like a software program. It starts out small and simple, but gradually becomes large and complex as more and more pieces are bolted on. For a mature system, the goal is not to keep writing more software, but to clean up, consolidate, and streamline what already exists, with the benefit of hindsight.
The true function of legislators is not just to create new legislation, but to clean up, consolidate, and streamline existing legislation.
William December 30th, 2014 at 15:06
Just a thought.
William December 30th, 2014 at 16:06
Just a thought.
rg9rts December 30th, 2014 at 17:07
Not for lack of not trying
rg9rts December 30th, 2014 at 18:07
Not for lack of not trying