Distorting the Facts About the “Do Nothing Congress”

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Accuracy in Media: Distorting the Facts About the “Do Nothing Congress”

Roger Aronoff — August 6, 2014

 

This past weekend’s Sunday morning talk shows were abuzz about how the House Republicans are in disarray, and that they are re-defining the concept of a “do nothing Congress.” NBC Chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd said on “Meet the Press:” “The Democrats are starting to feel like they have something to run on, or run against. Take the House Republicans and their own struggle to pass even small bills, like one to deal with the emergency at the border.”

 

Yet the Republicans did pass a bill addressing the border crisis before starting their five-week recess, while the Democratic-run Senate left for its five-week recess without passing anything to address that issue. It may be true that what the Republicans passed had no chance of becoming law, because it would have died in the Senate, but the Senate should have stayed in session, passed their own version, and gone to conference to work out a compromise. The President should have insisted on it, and pushed to make it happen. That’s how it’s supposed to work.