Congress logs most futile legislative year on record
It’s official: Congress ended its least-productive year in modern history after passing 80 bills — fewer than during any other session since year-end records began being kept in 1947.
Furthermore, an analysis by The Washington Times of the scope of such activities as time spent in debate, number of conference reports produced and votes taken on the House and Senate floors found that Congress set a record for legislative futility by accomplishing less in 2011 than any other year in history.
The Senate’s record was weakest by a huge margin, according to the futility index, and the House had its 10th-worst session on record.
Of the bills the 112th Congress did pass, the majority were housekeeping measures, such as naming post office buildings or extending existing laws. Sometimes, it was too difficult for the two chambers to hammer out agreements. More often, the Senate failed to reach agreement within the chamber.
That left much of the machinery of the federal government on autopilot, with the exception of spending, where monumental clashes dominated the legislative session.
“Absent unified party control with a bolstered Senate majority, I think it’s just very hard to get things done, particularly in a period when revenues aren’t growing and the decisions are how to cut, and how to cut in the long term,” said Sarah Binder, who studies Congress as a Brookings Institution scholar and professor at George Washington University. “Congress just isn’t very good at solving long-term problems.”
Read this story at washingtontimes.com ...
Furthermore, an analysis by The Washington Times of the scope of such activities as time spent in debate, number of conference reports produced and votes taken on the House and Senate floors found that Congress set a record for legislative futility by accomplishing less in 2011 than any other year in history.
The Senate’s record was weakest by a huge margin, according to the futility index, and the House had its 10th-worst session on record.
Of the bills the 112th Congress did pass, the majority were housekeeping measures, such as naming post office buildings or extending existing laws. Sometimes, it was too difficult for the two chambers to hammer out agreements. More often, the Senate failed to reach agreement within the chamber.
That left much of the machinery of the federal government on autopilot, with the exception of spending, where monumental clashes dominated the legislative session.
“Absent unified party control with a bolstered Senate majority, I think it’s just very hard to get things done, particularly in a period when revenues aren’t growing and the decisions are how to cut, and how to cut in the long term,” said Sarah Binder, who studies Congress as a Brookings Institution scholar and professor at George Washington University. “Congress just isn’t very good at solving long-term problems.”
Read this story at washingtontimes.com ...
Judge Advances Obama Administration’s Case Against Elderly Pro-life Activist
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 16, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) - A federal judge has ruled that the Justice Department’s may proceed with its prosecution of a peaceful 80-year-old pro-life counselor.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Emanuel (“Jeb”) Boasberg denied Richard Retta’s petition to have federal charges dismissed. The Obama administration alleges that Retta violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in January 2011 by standing in front of a woman at a D.C. abortion mill, blocking the entrance. The federal complaint states she was only able to enter the facility with the “extraordinary assistance” of two employees. As she entered, Retta told her, “Don’t let them kill your baby.”
The government is seeking a permanent injunction to prohibit Retta and “his representatives, employees, agents, and any others” from “coming near the clinic Gate,” as well as a $10,000 civil penalty and statutory damages of $5,000 for each of three “victims.”
Retta stated the government did not prove the woman was seeking an abortion and failed to show his motive violated the Clinton-era abortion law. However, Boasberg ruled that defendants need only think women are obtaining an abortion; “allegations that they were in fact doing so, accordingly are not required.”
“If they can’t get us legitimately, they’ll do whatever they can, whatever means they can to succeed,” Peter Shinn, the president of Pro-Life Unity and Cherish Life Ministries, told LifeSiteNews.com.
Retta prints a 22-page training manual instructing volunteers “DO NOT block the woman’s path,” and “Avoid being intimidating in any way.”
Retta, who goes by Dick, is described by the government as a “regular anti-abortion protestor at the Planned Parenthood in Metropolitan, Washington,” and “among the most vocal and aggressive anti-abortion protestors outside the Clinic.”
Retta told LifeSiteNews.com he is far from aggressive. “If I’m down there, and someone is coming in or out [of the door], I always [say], ‘Please don’t let them take their life. Please, we can and will help you. Please, choose life.’”
“I’m sure people in the waiting room hear me when the door is open,” he said. He offers women information about counseling and medical services. He says, unlike Planned Parenthood, he helps post-abortive women.
Retta believes sidewalk counselors have saved 1,400 lives at that facility alone. This year, they saved 140 unborn babies, double last year’s number.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Emanuel (“Jeb”) Boasberg denied Richard Retta’s petition to have federal charges dismissed. The Obama administration alleges that Retta violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in January 2011 by standing in front of a woman at a D.C. abortion mill, blocking the entrance. The federal complaint states she was only able to enter the facility with the “extraordinary assistance” of two employees. As she entered, Retta told her, “Don’t let them kill your baby.”
The government is seeking a permanent injunction to prohibit Retta and “his representatives, employees, agents, and any others” from “coming near the clinic Gate,” as well as a $10,000 civil penalty and statutory damages of $5,000 for each of three “victims.”
Retta stated the government did not prove the woman was seeking an abortion and failed to show his motive violated the Clinton-era abortion law. However, Boasberg ruled that defendants need only think women are obtaining an abortion; “allegations that they were in fact doing so, accordingly are not required.”
“If they can’t get us legitimately, they’ll do whatever they can, whatever means they can to succeed,” Peter Shinn, the president of Pro-Life Unity and Cherish Life Ministries, told LifeSiteNews.com.
Retta prints a 22-page training manual instructing volunteers “DO NOT block the woman’s path,” and “Avoid being intimidating in any way.”
Retta, who goes by Dick, is described by the government as a “regular anti-abortion protestor at the Planned Parenthood in Metropolitan, Washington,” and “among the most vocal and aggressive anti-abortion protestors outside the Clinic.”
Retta told LifeSiteNews.com he is far from aggressive. “If I’m down there, and someone is coming in or out [of the door], I always [say], ‘Please don’t let them take their life. Please, we can and will help you. Please, choose life.’”
“I’m sure people in the waiting room hear me when the door is open,” he said. He offers women information about counseling and medical services. He says, unlike Planned Parenthood, he helps post-abortive women.
Retta believes sidewalk counselors have saved 1,400 lives at that facility alone. This year, they saved 140 unborn babies, double last year’s number.