Congress wraps up, leaving work until after election

Source: Washington Post

With final Senate votes expected early Saturday morning, members of Congress have concluded work and departed Washington, putting off major decisions on tax and budget issues until after the November election.

The session ended on terrain familiar from the past 18 months of gridlocked action — with both parties blaming each other for not getting more done and a procedural debate in the Senate delaying final action on a bill over which there was no big dispute.

The Senate was expected to vote early Saturday to approve a six-month spending measure to fund the government when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. The measure, which the House approved last week, would spare Washington the specter of a government shutdown in the weeks leading up to the election.

Approval of the must-pass funding bill marked Congress’s only significant accomplishment during an eight-day work period that followed the August recess.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/congress-wraps-up-leaving-work-until-after-election/2012/09/21/d6fd45e4-0428-11e2-8102-ebee9c66e190_story.html

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In 2008, Congress (both houses under Dem control) stayed in session all the way till October to bail out the banks. But four years later, Congress walked away a week before the end of September without passing any job creation bills (or bailouts for workers)!

In 2004 (R majority) the Senate took its final pre-election vote on Oct. 11, two days after the House (R majority under Speaker Dennis Hastert and Maj Ldr Tom DeLay) recessed.

In 2000 (D majority under leader Tom Daschle), the Senate stayed in session all the way until Nov. 1 and the House (R majority under Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Dick Armey) two days later.

1996 (R majority): Senate finished pre-election business on Oct. 3, the House a week later (under Speaker Newt Gingrich, Maj Ldr Armey).

In 1992, a recession year when both the House and Senate were under (D) control (Speaker of the House was Tom Foley, House Majority Leader was Richard Gephardt, Senate Majority Leader was George Mitchell), the House adjourned on Oct. 5, the Senate on Oct. 8.

And you wonder why Congressional approval ratings are down to near 10%????