30.12.12

Will the US Avert the Fiscal Cliff?


Not likely, with this Congress

With only a few hours left, it doesn't look promising that the 112th Congress will be able to pass even one more bill, to add to their lacklustre record of 219 bills passed during session.

This Congress will have the distinction of having passed the fewest bills in 65 years of record. That's quite a sad achievement.

The following viz shows the congressional record since 1947, with the number of bills passed during the Speakers tenure.  At a glance, it's easy to see that a Democratically controlled house gets more done, even with a Republican presidency.  However, fewer bills have been passed in the past 2 decades compared to the previous 40 plus years.  It would seem that if this trend continues, democracy will be proven meaningless.