# What can we expect in the two years following the midterms? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 25, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457 "2014-08-25T14:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/21 "2014-08-25T17:26:47Z")
Here’s a reference. From [USA Today](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-08-14/unproductive-congress-not-passing-bills/57060096/1): Laws passed by year. 2012: 61; 2011: 90; 2010: 258; 2009: 125; 2008: 280; 2007: 180; 2006: 313; 2005: 169; 2004: 300; 2003: 198; 2002: 241; 2001: 136; 2000: 410; 1999: 170; 1998: 241; 1997: 153; 1996: 245; 1995: 88; 1994: 255; 1993: 210; 1992: 347; 1991: 243; 1990: 410; 1989: 240; 1988: 473; 1987: 240; 1986: 424; 1985: 240; 1984: 408; 1983: 215; 1982: 328; 1981: 145; 1980: 426; 1979: 187; 1978: 411; 1977: 223; 1976: 383; 1975: 205; 1974: 404; 1973: 245; 1972: 383; 1971: 224; 1970: 505; 1969: 190; 1968: 391; 1967: 391; 1966: 461; 1965: 349; 1964: 408; 1963: 258; 1962: 484; 1961: 401; 1960: 417; 1959: 383; 1958: 620; 1957: 316; 1956: 638; 1955: 390; 1954: 492; 1953: 288; 1952: 339; 1951: 255; 1950: 481; 1949: 440; 1948: 511; 1947: 395 ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/22 "2014-08-25T17:28:47Z")
2010 saw twice as many laws passed as the year before and the year after. Did that make it a better year? Was anyone’s life made better by these extra laws? The first law the Republicans should pass is that for every new law passed four old ones should be retired. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/23 "2014-08-25T17:29:01Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > These activities require new legislation from the congress? It’s called the budget. You might not have heard, but yes, it does come up at least every year. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/24 "2014-08-25T17:29:40Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > 2010 saw twice as many laws passed as the year before and the year after. > > Did that make it a better year? Was anyone’s life made better by these extra laws? > > The first law the Republicans should pass is that for every new law passed **four** old ones should be retired. I’ll accept two. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/25 "2014-08-25T17:39:42Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > These activities require new legislation from the congress? Yes; Congress has to vote the funds or they don’t get spent. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/26 "2014-08-25T17:40:44Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > 2010 saw twice as many laws passed as the year before and the year after. > > Did that make it a better year? Was anyone’s life made better by these extra laws? > > The first law the Republicans should pass is that for every new law passed four old ones should be retired. 1. You can count the number of bills passed in a session, but you can’t count the number of “laws” with such certainty. Is the USA PATRIOT ACT one law or dozens? 2. Do you have any idea how fatuous the very notion is? Every law needs to be judged on its own merits. Many laws affect hardly anybody outside certain industries. The idea of counting the number of “laws” in effect and calling the number “too many” (or “too few”) is idiotic. Certainly you can make an argument that a given law or set of laws should be repealed or simplified, but you can **only** make that argument on a case-by-case basis. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/27 "2014-08-25T17:43:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Yes; Congress has to vote the funds or they don’t get spent. Back to **Bone’s** first post that started this exchange: He said “new” laws. Passing a budget isn’t exactly a “new” law, since they do it every year. I think it’s clear what he was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/28 "2014-08-25T17:44:12Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Yes; Congress has to vote the funds or they don’t get spent. Ahh, true. Same budget as last year then. Or, the same one as 10 years ago. Or 20. I’ll rephrase and say no new legislation, with the term “new” meaning anything that didn’t exist in the same form in a prior year. So passing the current year budget would not be considered new. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/29 "2014-08-25T17:45:45Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Ahh, true. Same budget as last year then. Or, the same one as 10 years ago. Or 20. I’ll rephrase and say no new legislation, with the term “new” meaning anything that didn’t exist in the same form in a prior year. So passing the current year budget would not be considered new. The semantics don’t matter. What matters is that repairing the highways requires Congressional **action,** which you appear to be against on principle, which is completely insane. And the results of the midterms might give you your wish, too. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/30 "2014-08-25T17:45:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 1. Do you have any idea how fatuous the very notion is? Every law needs to be judged on its own merits. Many laws affect hardly anybody outside certain industries. The idea of counting the number of “laws” in effect and calling the number “too many” (or “too few”) is idiotic. No it’s not. There are 30,000 gun laws in this country. That’s too many. Is that statement idiotic? I would argue that it’s not. As a gun owner, even if all those laws are sensible, there’s no way for me to be familiar with them all. Even without knowing every single one of those laws it’s completely fair to say that there is just too many. The number of laws, regulation and overall complexity of government that we currently have is ridiculously high by any standard. It needs to be reduced. How’s that idiotic? ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/31 "2014-08-25T17:47:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The semantics don’t matter. What matters is that repairing the highways requires Congressional **action,** which you appear to be against on principle, which is completely insane. No. It doesn’t. What “new” action from congress is required to repair a highway? This year we had very little new legislation be passed. I still see plenty of road crews. Being opposed to the government passing new laws and regulations isn’t the same as wanting it to stop doing everything that it currently does. But current functions don’t need new legislation for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/32 "2014-08-25T17:48:58Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I would generally prefer the federal government do nothing, so that’s just fine. A congress that passes no new laws is successful as far as I’m concerned. There might be an argument for small government. But what argument can be made for ineffective government? We now have a government that consumes all the resources of a big government without producing any of the results. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/33 "2014-08-25T17:49:27Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > What “new” action from congress is required to repair a highway. Allocation of the funds. It’s new every year. It’s new in the sense that **Congress has to vote for it or it doesn’t happen.** And it’s looking unlikely that the next Congress will ever be able to get a majority to agree even on such a no-brainer as that. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/34 "2014-08-25T17:51:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Allocation of the funds. It’s new every year. It’s new in the sense that **Congress has to vote for it or it doesn’t happen.** And it’s looking unlikely that the next Congress will ever be able to get a majority to agree even on such a no-brainer as that. Bone and I have both agreed with you on that point already. Are you not reading our posts? Is he on your ignore list or something? I recently started using mine and it’s great. But I do find it’s tougher to follow threads where certain posters are very active as I only see them when they are quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/35 "2014-08-25T17:51:56Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > No. It doesn’t. > > What “new” action from congress is required to repair a highway? > > This year we had very little new legislation be passed. I still see plenty of road crews. > > Being opposed to the government passing new laws and regulations isn’t the same as wanting it to stop doing everything that it currently does. But current functions don’t need new legislation for the most part. Are you aware that people working on road crews expect to be paid? If the government refuses to enact spending bills, they won’t be. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/36 "2014-08-25T17:52:19Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > No it’s not. > > There are 30,000 gun laws in this country. That’s too many. > > Is that statement idiotic? > > I would argue that it’s not. As a gun owner, even if all those laws are sensible, there’s no way for me to be familiar with them all. Even without knowing every single one of those laws it’s completely fair to say that there is just too many. > > The number of laws, regulation and overall complexity of government that we currently have is ridiculously high by any standard. It needs to be reduced. > > How’s that idiotic? _Who picks?_ That’s right. When one party proposes a law, why should the opposing party get to pick which 2, 3 or 4 laws get sunsetted? For that matter, when does a third party or independent congressman get to choose which laws get terminated? Maybe we can form committees! With something this freakin’ convoluted every single person in Congress will be serving on at least 6 different committees for the entirety of their term. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/37 "2014-08-25T17:52:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The semantics don’t matter. What matters is that repairing the highways requires Congressional **action,** which you appear to be against on principle, which is completely insane. And the results of the midterms might give you your wish, too. What action is required beyond passing a budget (which is done every year [mostly]) that appropriates funds to the Federal Highway Administration? Of course the semantics matter. Legislation is all about semantics. Like I said, I’m fine with the status quo, pass the recurring legislation to keep the lights on. That wouldn’t be new legislation, other than the fact that the current year version is necessary to replace the expiring prior year version. Beyond that, fuck everything else. I’m pretty sure you knew what I meant, but I’ve clarified just to be safe. Just in case, that doesn’t mean I’m against repairing highways on principle. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/38 "2014-08-25T17:53:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There might be an argument for small government. But what argument can be made for ineffective government? We now have a government that consumes all the resources of a big government without producing any of the results. There has been “argument for small government” for ages. Politicians even run on that argument and win. And then government grows and grows. So I will settle for inefficient. You know, so that there will be an incentive for voters to want to drown it in a bathtub, eventually. If it is big AND efficient, there will be absolutely no incentive to reduce it. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/39 "2014-08-25T17:53:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There might be an argument for small government. But what argument can be made for ineffective government? We now have a government that consumes all the resources of a big government without producing any of the results. “Producing results” =/= “Passing new laws” You could have a congress that worked very hard and was very active and just eliminated laws and regulations. That would be “effective”, right? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457/40 "2014-08-25T17:56:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There might be an argument for small government. But what argument can be made for ineffective government? We now have a government that consumes all the resources of a big government without producing any of the results. You seem to be taking the position that if we’re spending all this money, we should get something for it. I take the contrary position - we’re getting the right result (arguably - since we’re no where near a small government), we’re just paying too much. You would seem to suggest that we should get more, I would suggest we spend less. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-expect-in-the-two-years-following-the-midterms/696457.md?page=3)