American politics is a war of attrition: a constant push and pull, leading to the breakdown of one side, and the victory of the other. People often complain about this electoral system, constantly asking for reform from our elected officials. Yet, we continue to re-elect the same politicians, who continue to threaten our democratic institutions. So, this begs the question: Why are we supporting this war of votes?
However, the answer to this question is a bit more nuanced than what strikes the naked eye.
Congress has always been an institution highly scrutinized by the American public. Excluding exceptional circumstances like 9/11, Congress has never polled above 50% for public approval polling. In fact, they tend to barely reach 25% most of the time. As of August of this year, Congress was receiving a meager 19% approval by the American people.
It is striking that in a world filled with division and divisive rhetoric, three in four Americans agree that they do not trust or have confidence in arguably the most important branch of our Federal government: Congress. The irony being that the very same system that the public distrusts is directly elected by the people.
With all this in mind, we have to ask ourselves: what the hell are we doing?
Often, our distrust in government is related to our representatives’ inability to perform necessary tasks: writing legislation, engaging in community, and bridging gaps in society that naturally would not be filled. Instead of this, we have a divided Congress more concerned about discussing alien invasions and making personal attacks about eyelashes and body types than solving problems for the American people.
This behavior is certainly shocking and abnormal. In fact, 2023 was a year with the fewest number of bills passed in modern recorded history, with only 20 passed by both houses and signed by the president. The first year of a new session is always slow when it comes to passing legislation, but this term provided a scary yet ever present reality: Congress doesn’t care about us. They would rather argue amongst themselves over trivial matters than actually pass meaningful legislation. And who can blame them? Many voters are ignorant enough to keep them in power.
The best point to highlight here is that both parties in Congress are guilty in their lack of accountability to the public. Let’s take an example of this right here in Rochester: Congressman Joe Morelle, who assumed power after the passing of highly popular and respected congresswoman Louise Slaughter.
Joe Morelle has virtually accomplished nothing during his three terms in office. He has not been an original author or sponsor of a single piece of legislation which was passed and signed by the president. To give credit where it is due, he did act as a co-sponsor on hundreds of bills. Many of these co-sponsored bills, however, have been stalled indefinitely.
So, if even the people of Rochester can’t elect meaningful representatives, how can we expect the same nationally? And how could we expect that these representatives will remain accountable to us when it is essentially a guarantee that we will re-elect them? In fact, nearly 95 percent of incumbents in 2022 were re-elected to congress.
I guess what I am trying to scream from the rooftops is this: Respectfully, we are screwed. And it is entirely because of voters’ electoral choices. People have two options this upcoming year, and every year. Vote for the same status quo politicians and their nonsensical policies, or vote for meaningful change. Whether that change is Republican or Democrat is irrelevant. We just need representatives that see our true struggles again.
So, here’s a message to the status quo politicians such as Representative Joe Morelle — instead of emerging from the shadows for photo ops before an election to increase your vote count, actually enact meaningful change. Reach across the aisle, listen, and do good for the community, not your pocketbook or election chances.
