Congress: All Fighting and Pork?

These days it is a long running joke for everyone from gas station attendants to talk show hosts that Congress does little more than argue and spend money. Evidence shows with Congress's approval rating at 16 percent according to the Gallup poll, the American people believe that this is the wrong thing to do. If you ask the average American what they think of Congress, you might get a response: “Congress is useless. They need to stop fighting and actually get some work done”.

What this average American doesn't understand is that Congress was designed to be a battleground for people with different interests to voice their ideas. When Congress is doing it's best job, it is having fierce battles over policy and spending money. That is what the Constitution set it up to do. Most Americans live inside of a peaceful world where the conflicts are few and disagreements are settle-able but this world dissolves when we step into the world of politics. Americans watch the news, and they see bitter battles on the House and Senate floor. Many times no compromise can be made and no action is taken. This can happen even after much energy and time has been expended toward a bill. Many people watching this on C-Span cannot understand. These people may say things like: I know what I want Congress to do. What isn't Congress just doing that? Are they not listening to me? Do they even care what I think? The answer is yes they do care but, they also have to care what three hundred and seven million other citizens think and you can be sure that there are many interests that are not the same as yours.

Congress is slow and inefficient but that is that best way for it to be. This is the most powerful branch of our government. They make the laws that must be followed throughout the land. They should take their time on deciding the right way to word a bill. They should have bitter fights on policy. Wouldn't you rather have the best law possible rather than the law that Congress came up with fastest?.

This is what we, as such a diverse American nation, need them to do. We elect our representatives with the hopes that they will go to Washington and do their best to make sure that our interests are represented. This does not mean that the constituents of any representative will every get their way all of the time. There are going to have to be compromises. Never will anyone be fully happy but it is the compromise that keeps this country centered and on track. Congress is the only way to make sure that everyone is able to get at least part of their interests protected and best way to keep the American people in control of the government.