Is Congress Good for Anything?

I beginning to wonder about that above question each passing day as Congress finds new ways to embarrass themselves. They can't pass any immigration reform. They can't pass any lobbying reform. They long ago took a pass on Social Security reform. They do, however, seem quite apt at wasting our tax dollars, as evident in the in the pork-filled $109 billion emergency spending bill passed by the Senate that was MEANT for funding the war in Iraq and hurricane relief.

This next question pains me greatly being a registered Republican, but would it be better for the country if the Democrats regained control of at least one of the chambers of Congress this year? Again, this pains me greatly, but right now I have to say yes. It seems like the only way the Republicans are going to get their heads out of their ass is if they get the bitter taste of defeat. Now I certainly realize that the Democrats aren't going to make things much better. They don't seem too serious about Social Security or immigration reform and they're only talk about balancing the budget because the Republicans suck so bad it right now. In addition, if the worst excesses of the Democrats come to the surface (and they ignore a majority of the general public), we could see impeachment hearings of President Bush, which will accomplish only wasting more tax dollars.

So while in the short term, I think we as country are screwed whether the Democrats control one or both chambers of Congress or the Republicans maintain their chokehold over both chambers, I think in the long term, the country will be better off with the Democrats regaining control of the House or Senate this year. The Republicans will get their much needed wake-up call, return to their limited government roots and realize that hey you occasionally need to get things done in Congress. The Republicans then can run a campaign in 2008 on actual ideas and plans as opposed to the 2006 campaign of "Hey we don't suck quite as bad as the Democrats". If things develop as I've layed out here, we should have semi-competent federal governing returning around 2008.