More laws do not equal a better Congress

The current Congress is rated as one of the least productive in history because of a lack of new legislation.

According to the rating service, this session of Congress has approved just 60 new laws and thus, the low rating.

But why is this rating based on legislation passed?

In so many ways, I think the American public would be better served if Congress passed fewer laws.

I would be much more comfortable with a rating based on the number of useless regulations they overturned. Or a rating based on the reduction in the bloated federal "workforce."

The key to judging this or any other Congress should fall into the budget approval process. By this measure, this session joins far too many others in their failure to pass a budget.

And someday -- in a perfect world -- we would judge Congress by its approval of a balanced budget.

But that is little more than a dream -- or so it seems.

At the same time this rating was announced, it seems that the American public also is judging this session with something less than favorable numbers.

A dismal 6 percent of the American public approves of the work of this Congress. That reaches a record low.

Sometimes the best action is no action at all. Granted the partisan bickering in Congress is taking its toll, but the fact remains that judging any session of Congress based on the number of new laws is a flawed measure at best.

Protect my liberty, protect my freedoms and protect the money provided by the toil of the taxpayer. If Congress can accomplish these simple tasks without passing one new law, that's fine by me.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.