Watch: Economist Robert Reich lists the real reasons why Congress 'doesn’t get anything done'
From voting rights to the Build Back Better Act, a variety of Democrat-sponsored bills that were passed in the U.S. House of Representatives have hit a brick wall when they got to the U.S. Senate for consideration. The Senate has often been described as the place “where bills go to die,” and liberal economist Robert Reich answers the question “Why doesn’t Congress get anything done?” in a video posted on YouTube on March 15.
The 75-year-old Reich answers his question by saying, “Well, one chamber actually does. Hundreds of bills have been passed by the House of Representatives but have been blocked from even getting a vote in the Senate…. So, why aren’t these crucial bills getting a vote in the Senate? Because the filibuster makes it impossible.”
Reich continues, “All told, the House passed over 200 bills in 2021 that had not even been taken up the Senate — everything from investment in rural education to preventing discrimination against pregnant workers to protecting seniors from scams.”
Congress is not trapped in gridlock. It is being poisoned by one party. The House passed over 200 bills in 2021. The GOP blocked all of them.pic.twitter.com/5hRJU9zkKr— Robert Reich (@Robert Reich) 1647472860
The economist, who served as secretary of labor in the Bill Clinton Administration during the 1990s, goes on to say that although the Democrat-led House has been “passing important legislation and delivering for the people,” Senate Republicans and “a handful of corporate Democrats are hell-bent on grinding the gears of government to a halt.”
The “corporate Democrats” that Reich was obviously referring to included Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both of whom have been unwavering defenders of the Senate filibuster.
“Why are Senate Republicans doing this? Because their misterm strategy depends on it,” Reich explains. “Republicans are blocking crucial legislation so they can point to Democrats’ supposed inability to get anything done, and claim they’ll be able to deliver if you give them majorities. Don’t fall for it.”
Watch the video below:
The Real Reason Congress Gets Nothing Done | Robert Reichwww.youtube.com
