With its most remarkable score yet, Congress landed an approval rating of a dismal 10 percent in February, according to a Gallup survey. Disgruntled Americans still far outnumber proponents; even the war in Afghanistan has a higher approval rating at 23 percent according to a CBS poll.
Out of the many educated students of Aragon, very few approve.
Two of these students are sophomore Zamir Shamil and sophomore Jacqueline Pei, who happens to be a part of the Harvard Model Congress Club.
Even so, both have few encouraging words to say about Congress.
Shamil says, “They’re not doing superb, but they’re doing their best, and that’s a start.” Pei adds, “They haven’t given up.”
Undeniably, the challenges Congress face are immense, and adhering to the wishes of the public is arguably the hardest job of all, but when asked for one thing Congress has done recently that is good, neither of the proponents had an answer.
It is not hard to understand why the public has a low opinion of Congress. In 2011, threat of federal government shutdown was headlined frequently. Instead of solving the crises in the Middle East or fixing education, American Congressmen seemed to spend much of their year playing political chess, and the result was a stalemate.
US Government teacher Dr. Frederick Chancellor says,“I’ve had a low opinion about Congress’s functions for quite a while because Republicans don’t want to do anything except defeat Obama. They’re not trying to compromise or work anything out. When you have people going to the floor of the Senate or the House saying our goal is to make sure the President has one term, that’s not what you’re elected for.”
Chancellor cites lack of moderates as one of the issues with Congress. “Since the 2010 election, there are fewer moderates. There were Republican moderates that were defeated by Tea Party supported candidates. There were people who got tired of fighting the fight on the Democratic side and the Republican side who retired. People who were willing to talk to each other and work something out have left Congress.”
History teacher Ron Berggren adds, “The art of compromise no longer seems to be anything that anyone wants to do, so people are stuck on one side or another and nobody wants to give in because they’re afraid they won’t be reelected. The best congressional leaders, [either] Democratic or Republican, have been able to compromise to get something done which they hope is in the best interest of the people of the United States.”
Dean Michael Valmonte points to money as a factor in why Congress is so dysfunctional. “I think an important issue is to examine the relationship between the PACs, corporations, lobbyists, and Congress. Follow the money, and the truth will prevail.”
While there is much reason to be frustrated with our nation’s legislature, one must ask what the people can do to make a difference.
“When you have a significant portion of the population who was surveyed… that did not realize we had three branches of government, we are in a sorry state… They probably do not understand that the president is not [like] a dictator [and] cannot get anything done without Congress passing the law,” says Chancellor.
For this reason, perhaps a certain responsibility lies in those who are uninformed. Even for students, forming an educated opinion on such frustrating political issues will certainly allow for such disapprovers or proponents to voice their opinion—or maybe even cooperate—in the future. Only then will we “see change we can believe in,” maybe even in Congress.
