Stalemate Congress

Published in Neues Deutschland
(Germany) on 7 January 2015
by Olaf Standke (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by . Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
The 113th U.S. Congress which ended Jan. 3, 2015 received extremely bad grades, and unflatteringly nicknamed by frustrated American citizens the "Do-Nothing Congress." Experts called it one of the most unproductive legislative periods of all time. While just 285 bills cleared the House of Representatives and the Senate, the 20 previous congresses managed an average of 564. But it was not just this statistic that made it a stalemate legislature.

In October 2013, for example, the tough dispute about the federal budget meant that many government agencies had to stay closed for weeks. Important political projects such as immigration reform, regulation concerning climate change, minimum wage and health care for war veterans fell victim to the Republican blockade. And there is little hope that things will be better with the 114th Congress which began work on Tuesday. Not just because up to 80 percent of its members are white men of Christian faith and therefore, on a personal level, hardly reflective of the far-reaching problems in "God's own country." Republicans now dominate both houses and have signaled their bitter opposition to President Obama in his last two years in office. The stalemate threatens to last.


Parlament des Stillstands
Olaf Standke über den neuen US-Kongress, der seine Arbeit aufgenommen hat
Der 113. Kongress der Vereinigten Staaten hatte von den frustrierten US-Bürgern denkbar schlechte Noten und einen wenig schmeichelhaften Spitznamen bekommen: »Do-nothing Congress«. Experten sprechen von einer der unproduktivsten Legislaturperioden aller Zeiten, passierten doch nur 285 Gesetzesprojekte Repräsentantenhaus und Senat; die 20 vorangegangenen Kongresse schafften im Schnitt 564. Aber es war nicht nur diese Quantität, die ihn zum Parlament des Stillstands machte.
Im Oktober 2013 etwa mussten wegen des zähen Streits um den Staatshaushalt viele Behörden wochenlang geschlossen bleiben. Wichtige politische Projekte wie die Einwanderungsreform, aber auch Verordnungen zum Klimawandel, Mindestlohn oder zur medizinischen Versorgung von Kriegsveteranen wurden Opfer der republikanischen Totalblockade. Und es besteht wenig Hoffnung, dass es mit dem 114. Kongress, der am Dienstag seine Arbeit aufnahm, besser wird. Nicht nur, weil er zu 80 Prozent aus weißen Männern christlichen Glaubens besteht und damit schon personell kaum die tief greifenden Probleme in »Gottes eigenem Land« widerspiegelt. Inzwischen dominieren die Konservativen sogar beide Häuser und haben Präsident Barack Obama in seinen beiden letzten Amtsjahren erbitterten Widerstand angekündigt. Der Stillstand droht anzuhalten.
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