Legislating is a Dying Art

Wall Street Journal: “Having enacted just 72 laws in all of 2013 – one of its least productive sessions ever – Congress is not just gridlocked. It is getting rusty at the art of legislating.”

“Lawmaking on a grand scale is something of a dying art on the Hill at a time when the two parties are miles apart on major issues and divided government keeps both in check. Many of the bills that are enacted are parochial or noncontroversial – such as a 2013 law “to specify the size of the precious-metal blanks that will be used in the production of the National Baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coins” – or written by a small band of party leaders. That means the rest of Congress is not getting much practice.”