Are Your Politicians Show Ponies or Work Horses?
There is an old Sufi teaching story that goes like this:
"You think that because you understand ‘one' that you must therefore understand ‘two' because one and one make two. But you forget that you must also understand ‘and.'"
The ancient Sufis really presaged how American public policy is made. And if a snore is coming on at the mere mention of public policy, let’s define our terms:
When I say public policy, I mean the laws we live under. The laws that set the speed limit outside your home, what’s in the air you breathe and water you drink, what can be in the food you buy, why healthcare is so stinking expensive and sugar is so stinking cheap, and much more.
These laws, dear reader, aren't necessarily the product of politicians gathering in smoke-filled backrooms, steepling their fingers, and deciding how they will use their power to - yet again - stick it to the little guy.
Let’s go back to the Sufis. The equation isn’t one, one make two. A couple of ones just hanging out in a sentence together don’t automatically make two. “And" is what joins them up: One and one make two. That “and” hidden in plain sight is the operative word in that sentence.
When it comes to public policy, the equation isn’t powerful politicians make laws. The equation goes more like this: politicians using their power make laws.
Here’s a political secret hidden in plain sight: plenty of politicians don’t use their power to make laws. They use the power of elected office - I’m paraphrasing Senator Mitch McConnell - to make a point, not to make a difference.
Put plainly: they use the power of elected office to get attention.
Getting attention isn’t inherently bad. A politician can use attention to spotlight an issue or frame an idea. But being a show pony alone won’t get a bill across the finish line. For that, you need to be a work horse.
So how can we tell if politicians are using their power to make laws? Here are a few clues I look for:
Number of Bills Introduced versus Number of Bills Passed
One member of Congress introduced 612 bills. Another member introduced a mere 69 bills. (More about what introducing a bill actually means here.)
But the first member only got 1 bill passed, a 0.16% average. And the latter got 9 bills passed, a 13% average.
Passing bills isn’t like throwing spaghetti at a wall: throw enough, and some will surely stick. Passing bills is more like playing tennis in a windstorm: it requires good skill, good luck, and even then, there’s no guarantee you’ll get a good win.
That politician who got 13% of their bills enacted is using their power to find ways to win tennis matches in a windstorm.
Here’s a useful resource to find out how good the politicians who represent you are at hitting forehands in a gale.
Committee
For a bill to become law, it has to first pass out of Committee, meaning the majority of Committee members give the bill a thumbs up.
Now let’s zoom out: 19,315 bills were introduced last Congress, and 2% became law. What happened to the other 98%?
After a bill is introduced, it’s sent over to the Committee that oversees that bill's issue. Committees get mountains of bills, but they only work on a molehill-sized number.
So Committees are where the overwhelming majority of bills go to die.
How does a politician get a Committee to act on their bill? It sure helps if that politician is on the Committee. They have a little more heft to get the Committee to take up their bill.
Here’s a good resource to find out more about Committees and bills. It might take some getting used to, but it the first site I check to get the straight skinny on a bill.
Now, Congress is as filled with irregularities as the English language, so naturally, there are few caveats:
- Being on a Committee doesn’t guarantee your bill will pass with flying colors. A politician’s gotta work the bill, including make the case that their legislation is a win for the majority of Committee members and getting buy-in from the Committee Chair.
- If a politician is in the minority, moving a bill through Committee can be rough sledding. The minority has fewer Committee members, which means fewer votes for a bill. Given that neither party wants to throw the other a bone, it can be quite tricky for a member in the minority party to get their bill to see the light of day.
Legislatures the country over are chock full of politicians who perform policymaking. They introduce oodles of bills, they talk a good game, they may even say the right things. But ultimately, they are using their power to make a point, not to make a law.
For lawmaking, politicians need to use their power. And it’s the politicians who use their power that shape the laws we live under.