It’s a well-known fact that our current national legislature is the least productive congress in decades (npr.org), but have you ever wondered what bills they’ve passed? As it turns out, increasing our debt to a seemingly infinite degree and renaming post offices are key issues in our representative’s eyes.
One of the few pieces of legislation Congress passed included three bills to make appropriations, which means they were delegating the U.S.’ budget; however, it seems they plan to continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars they can’t pay back. In June 2023, our current congress passed a bill to “reasonably increase” our debt ceiling (legiscan.com).
Last year, Congress had to choose whether to officially enter a recession (default) or to enact a bill that would increase the debt ceiling (The Wall Street Journal). They chose the latter, but since then have been unable to compromise on budget reforms (Council of Foreign Relations). Raising the debt ceiling again is already a dismal state of affairs- but it would have been easier to accept if its sole purpose was to serve as a buffer, allowing them time to enact resolutions that would counteract the latest debt increase and tackle the remaining debt.
Instead, they would rather double it and give it to the next generation. In 2008, our national debt was approximately fourteen trillion dollars; as of 2023, it has more than doubled (over thirty-three trillion). Yet the urgency of this situation will never resonate with Congress as long as they have unfettered access to power and lives of luxury (fiscaldata.treasury.gov).
Another considerable portion of the bills passed were inconsequential name changes. To quote HB996: “To designate the facility of the United States Postal service located at 3901 MacArthur Blvd., in New Orleans, Louisiana, as the “Dr. Rudy Lombard Post Office.” That is the entire purpose of the bill (legiscan.com).
You might argue that there is nothing inherently harmful in passing these types of bills, and while that may be true, these should be passed in conjunction with other important pieces of legislation. The average American would not only be completely unaware of it unless they live in the area, but many wouldn’t even consider it a priority. In a recent Gallup poll, primary non-economic concerns include: immigration, the government/poor leadership, unifying the country, and poverty/hunger/homelessness. To no one’s surprise, renaming post offices wasn’t even on the list.
When discussing the utility of term limits, one of the leading arguments is that our 118th Congress is the least productive legislature in history. They have passed the fewest number of bills in decades, providing a minimal amount of help to the pressing issues American citizens face daily. Our national debt continues to skyrocket while they pass several bills to rename postal offices. It’s no wonder that term limits on Congress are more important now than ever before.