The Congress

There is yet another example of Congressional action that puts the lie to claims that the Congress can not get anything done.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wants to establish a Climate Service similar to the Weather Service. Currently, data on the subject of climate is scattered through various NOAA departments. NOAA wants to establish the equivalent of a “one-stop shop” for climate information. The idea is supported by the person who was the head of NOAA for eight years under President George Bush.

There was no request of new funding for the new proposed entity. The funding would come from the funds already received by the various shops that would be combined.

The Senate approved most of what NOAA requested in its 2012 budget. The House approved none of it, and it was nowhere to be found in the final agreement on the budget.

According to the Washington Post, “a House Appropriations committee release implied that Congress had saved $322 million in fiscal year 2012 by nixing the climate service.” An interesting example of the accounting conventions to which the Congress subscribes.

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Through November 30th, the 112th Congress has been less productive than any Congress at least since 1991. The House has passed 326 bills, the Senate 368 bills, and the President has signed 62 into law.

The previous low in each category since 1991 was

The House, 483 - 1995
The Senate, 346 - 1995
Bills signed, 88 1995

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75% of Americans rate the accomplishments of this year’s Congress as one of the worst (42%) or below average 33%. Just 1% call it one of the best.

In a close race, 69% disapprove of the job being done by Republicans in Congress, while 62% disapprove of the job being done by the Democrats.

By 45% to 43% the public prefers that the new Congress be controlled by Democrats rather than Republicans. The Democrats have been slightly ahead since October. [NBC/WSJ 12/11]

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How do Americans rate the honesty and integrity of Members of Congress? 64% rate them low or very low. This puts Members of Congress below lobbyists, telemarketers, and car salespeople. In fact, this rating is the lowest of the 21 professions tested by Gallup. This is by far the lowest rating on this question in the last 35 years. [Gallup 12/11]

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In the last NBC/WSJ survey, respondents were asked to select from a list what most disappoints them about the current Congress. Here is their answer.

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67% now say that most current Members of Congress should be voted office in the 2012 election . This is the highest number ever recorded by Pew Research . 53% had that view in 2010. 33% do think their own Member of Congress should be re-elected, just slightly more than the 31% who thought that in 2010, when 58 Members of Congress lost re-election bids. [Pew 12/11]

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The U.S. Senate

There has been only one change in the structure of the Senate race since the November issue of the Watch. North Dakota has moved from Leaning Republican to Toss-Up.

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The U.S. Senate

• Democrats 51
• Republicans 47
• Independents 2 (caucus Dem)

Here is how the 33 Senate elections -- 23 Democratic incumbents (includes 2 Independents), 10 Republican incumbents -- look to me at this time . (D=Dem incumbent in office, R=GOP incumbent in office, I=Ind. Incumbent in office) Underlining reflects retirement.

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The House of Representatives

WW has regularly reprinted the “House Dashboard” published by the Cook Political Report. The data below, from January 20, 2011, is from the Dashboard. However, the Dashboard is not being published at this time because of the uncertainties caused by re-districting. Therefore, the chart below reflects the Cook’s current Competitive House Race Chart through December 8, 2011.

The U.S. House of Representatives

• Republicans 242
• Democrats 192
• Vacancy 1 (D)

[As always, thanks to “The Cook Political Report.” ] 

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The Rothenberg Political Report has posted a report that deals with the entire House. It reports the following:



The net result of this projection is that Republicans will hold 229 seats after the election and the Democrats will hold 206 seats.

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