An Unproductive Congress Is A Good Thing
New data from analytics firm Quorum shows that the 118th Congress is on the verge of becoming the least productive in decades, possibly even in history. Interestingly, this is being viewed negatively by Axios journalists, who seemingly do not understand that internal conflicts within the House Republican majority have been a blessing in disguise that has only slowed down the federal government's ability to enact new legislation in a climate of overregulation weighing on economic productivity.
"Just 20 bills have been passed by both chambers and signed into law this year, with another four currently awaiting President Biden's signature," Axios journalist Andrew Solender wrote.
Solender continued, "That's far below even historically unproductive first years: The 104th, 112th and 113th Congresses, in which Republicans controlled one or both chambers with Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in the White House, passed between 70 and 73 laws."
X users state an unproductive federal government is a blessing:
More laws..rules..regulations....that is what make the country unproductive....
— Bryan W Cross (@BryanWCross1) December 19, 2023
Excellent!
— Diversity Requires Freedom 🐳 (@uniteCOforus) December 19, 2023
Great work, GOP!
— Matt Nowak (@MatthewNowak20) December 19, 2023
That’s a win for limited govt
— Tim 🇺🇸 (@thesaultyTTT) December 19, 2023
This is progress. Every law passed is another right infringed. You may enjoy living in a box that if you accidentally step outside of it you get charged with multiple crimes, but I don't. Congress has been mostly worthless for decades. I would rather they do nothing.
— Military Arms (@MAC_Arms) December 19, 2023
According to a recent report by the center-right think tank American Action Forum, the Biden administration has increased the regulatory burden by $318 billion in total costs and more than 218 million hours of paperwork in the last two years (as of May of this year).
AAF noted, "An increased regulatory burden erects barriers to entry that are negatively associated with firm births, firm deaths, and increased profits among incumbent firms – meaning regulations inhibit new market entrants while cementing the position of existing firms."
Fewer regulations are a start; as one X user pointed out, "Now do the spending."
