Rusty Saber: Congressional acts cause head scratching

I’m not talking about why the grass grows green sort of questions. Fertilizer and water tell me most of what I need to know about green grass.

My lack of understanding has to do with people.

First, I don’t understand why so many young people turn up the volume of stereos in their cars, especially the bass, causing the earth to tremble all around the car.

Nearby drivers, passengers and pedestrians receive a free performance of something unrecognizable as music. The din would surely be enough to drown out most emergency vehicles for drivers tuned into the concert.

I sort of understand why music at rock concerts is cranked up to a decibel that might be just below earth-shattering. Rock bands perform at high energy levels, and the excessive volume becomes an expected part of the show. I understand that sort of eardrum-numbing noise. I suspect numb eardrums may someday become a reality for frequent listeners.

While I may understand some of the loudness, I’ll never understand anyone turning the interior of their car into a “temple of boom.”

Saying I don’t understand the U.S. Congress may be a classic understatement. I’m bewildered may be more precise.

Senators and representatives spend millions getting elected, and once in office, the top item on their agendas seems to be to running for re-election. Since senators’ terms are six years – two years for representatives – I can understand the need to compile an exemplary record that might lead to being returned to office. I doubt that any of us vote for our congresspersons in the hope they will spend their time running for re-election.

What I really don’t understand is what members of Congress actually accomplish. I once had a college professor who told the class how unwise it would be for them to cheat on exams. He was very smart, yet he said to the class: “I may not be very smart, but I’m not naive.” I stuck that into my teacher’s bag of little blurbs to occasionally slip into lectures. In 40 years of teaching, I never used it. It seems to fit here.

I may not be too smart, but I’m not naive enough to believe Congress is doing the job it was elected to do.

Apparently, I’m not alone in my lack of faith: The most recent survey found only a 9 percent approval rating of Congress with Americans. You could probably find 9 percent of the public who would approve of raising their income tax.

While in session, TV news is pretty well saturated with as many senators and representatives able to find a TV camera posturing to the high heavens about why they haven’t done something. It is rare for anyone in Congress to accept blame for inactivity. Au contraire, the no-good rascals in the other party are to blame. Rest assured the other party will send the blame right back. This may be what they call bipartisanship.

You may be happy with your senators and representative.

That’s good. Truth be told, I’m relatively happy with mine.

It’s the collective group that I don’t understand. They should make up an elite gathering of legislative thinkers dedicated to creating laws to benefit the nation. Sadly, most of them spend too much time throwing barbs at opponents and too little time seriously approaching the needs of the nation.

This is not to say that Congress never does anything worthwhile. Occasionally, an important piece of legislation is enacted, and I applaud them. The 9 percent approval rating may be the limit of the public’s applause.

What I find most offensive about Congress is its predilection to hold investigative hearings about anything catching its fancy. It appears to me the real purpose is to look good on TV and get off a few insults to pile on a few witnesses. The folks back home really love that. I don’t know what hearings accomplish; I have a feeling that a list of important legislation passed as a result of investigative hearings might be a short list, indeed.

Of course, I may be naive, but I believe understanding Congress ought to be easy.

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.