Recently in Congress Category

Why is nobody in Washington, especially majority Democrats in Congress, all that worried about Gallup's new poll showing the approval rating for Congress at an all time low of 14%? Probably because it doesn't matter. Here's why.

You can say one thing about Joe Lieberman: He's no political opportunist. With Democrats poised to increase their power in Washington next year, most lawmakers  -- even a couple of Republicans -- are eager to ingratiate themselves with the leadership. But Joe's just doing what he's always done, marching to the beat of his conscience. 

 

This is a change election. Everyone says so, right? Well, not in Congress, where Democrats are planning another round of votes for no other purpose than to embarrass the other side.

Democrats are dreaming up several partisan votes aimed solely at contrasting Democratic candidates and their Republican counterparts and at making trouble for John McCain for the fall. Having a productive and honorable legislative session -- as if the founding fathers ever envisioned such a thing -- is out of the question.

What's more likely is this .... 

There are reasons why Congressional Republicans are in the mess they are in, but so far, the response from understandably panicked GOP officeholders betrays little evidence of understanding what's gone wrong. Their solution appears to be to dig the hole they are in even faster and deeper.

 

It doesn't take a political scientist to figure out why Congress's approval ratings just hit an all-time low of 18% -- just spend a few days on Capitol Hill watching lawmakers in action. This week you could see them strutting around one day, proud of passing a phony gas-price-reduction bill, and watch them flail hopelessly the next, trying to short  change the men and women who are fighting the war in Iraq.