109 Reasons to Dump the 109th Congres

a Talking Point from the Center for American Progress Action Fund

November 7, 2006


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We need a new Congress—here’s why:

Congress set a record for the fewest number of days worked—218 between the House and Senate combined. [Link]

The Senate voted down a measure that urged the administration to start a phased redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq by the end of 2006. [Link]

Congress failed to raise the minimum wage, leaving it at its lowest inflation-adjusted level since 1955. [Link]

Congress gave itself a two percent pay raise. [Link]

There were 15,832 earmarks totaling $71 billion in 2006. (In 1994, there were 4,155 earmarks totaling $29 billion.) [Link]

Congress turned the tragic Terri Schiavo affair into a national spectacle because, according to one memo, it was “a great political issue” that got “the pro-life base…excited.” [Link]

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works thinks global warming is the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” [Link]

The House leadership held open a vote for 50 minutes to twist arms and pass a bill that helped line the pockets of energy company executives. [Link]

Congress fired the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the lone effective federal watchdog for Iraq spending, effective Oct. 1, 2007. [Link]

The Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee thinks the Internet is “a series of tubes.” [Link]

To see all 109 reasons, visit thinkprogress.org/2006/11/06/109-congress/.

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