Congress as a “Punching Bag”

“We can’t wait.”

This slogan was tagged on like a doorplate on documents distributed by the White House after U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order for a federal government budget reduction plan.

The slogan has become a catchphrase promoted by Obama’s White House, and appears to be somewhat of a sequel to “Yes, we can,” from the 2008 presidential election. It seems like Obama uttered “We can’t wait” at least four to five times this month while announcing his executive order regarding student loans, home foreclosures and job security for veterans. Even Obama’s recent speeches given during his current nationwide bus tour mostly started with “We can’t wait any longer. . . .”

The target of President Obama’s “can’t wait” rhetoric is Congress. Obama’s argument is that since the country cannot wait for Congress, which is devoted to in-house political fights, to pass necessary legislation, Obama himself will take immediate action through executive orders that can bypass Congress. Obama said, “Steps like these won’t take the place of the bold action we need from Congress to boost our economy and create jobs, but they will make a difference. And until Congress does act, I will continue to do everything in my power to act on behalf of the American people.”

Obama is targeting Congress with a plan to create a polarizing image of “working president” versus “roadblock Congress” for the presidential election next year. Election strategists believe that Obama, whose chances for re-election are threatened by his low approval ratings, has chosen to blame Congress for the economic slump. Some even believe that Obama is bench-marketing a precedent of Harry Truman, who also faced difficulties in reelection in 1948 due to an economic downturn but came out victorious after coining the phrase “do-nothing Congress.”

As expected, there are critics who say, “Half of the U.S. Congress is from the Democratic Party, and President Obama happens to belong to that party.” Despite this, Obama is still able to position himself against Congress because Congress is currently a “punching bag,” and is probably the only organization in the country that is less popular than Obama. In a recent poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, the approval rating for Congress set a record low of 18 percent, compared to Obama’s job approval rating of 44 percent.

Regardless of such statistics, it is not difficult to feel that the Americans’ mistrust toward the U.S. Congress has reached its zenith. Opinion sections of major newspapers are plastered with ridicules and criticisms of Congress. Even Daniel Inouye (Democrat from Hawaii), who has been in Congress for 52 years, said “I have never experienced such a Congress that bickers constantly and does not know how to compromise.”*

Article I in the U.S. Constitution bestows power to Congress. The U.S. government is centered around Congress. The tainted prestige of such a Congress shows that as a whole, the U.S. is declining.

*Editor’s Note: This quote, while accurately translated, could not be verified.