If you want to know why Congress has such low approval from the American public, you must read this Chicago Tribune column from the Tribune's Washington Bureau chief, Michael Tackett. The column covers Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander's efforts to pass a bill that would require the Bush administration to regularly report to Congress on the status of plans to redeploy troops out of Iraq.
Notice that the bill requires the Bush administration only to report on the status of plans to get troops out of Iraq. It doesn't require the administration to get troops out or even to come up with a plan to get troops out, which means the bill is worthless.
Alexander has been working since January to get this bill passed. Suppose he can get enough support to get the bill passed and Bush signs it into law. The bill wouldn't take effect until January 2008 at the earliest. The Bush administration can say it needs 90 days to draw up plans to get troops out of Iraq. April 2008 comes, and the administration can say they're still working on the plan. They can do this every 90 days until Bush leaves office.
Alexander disagrees with my argument that his bill is pointless. He considers it "a clear shift of direction in Iraq". He also thinks his bill helps the administration "shift gears and make sure we are on a path to an honorable conclusion to the war". I have no idea how reporting on the status of plans to move troops out of Iraq shifts the direction in Iraq war policy or puts America on a path to end the war.
What's sad is that Tackett supports Alexander's proposal, calling it "one effort to get some actual accountability". Tackett also gushes over Alexander in the column, saying "Alexander, a Republican, spends time on matters that get beyond the tiresome partisan fights of the day. Things that really matter". Tackett is the Chicago Tribune's Washington Bureau chief. The Tribune is a big-time newspaper. One would think Tackett could see that Alexander's proposal doesn't really matter. It doesn't stop Bush from continuing to do whatever he wants in Iraq.
Alexander and the rest of the members of Congress don't understand why their approval is so low. They think it's because of partisan bickering that keeps Congress from coming together to solve problems. They are totally mistaken. Their approval rating is low because they're not doing what the American people voted them into office to do. The people voted for them to end the Iraq War and Congress spends months coming up with bills requiring the Bush administration to provide progress reports. The people don't want war with Iran and Congress passes amendments labeling Iran's military a terrorist organization. If Congress wants to raise its approval rating, it should do what the people want: get out of Iraq and avoid war with Iran.
