Congress reborn!

According to mainstream and alt media, Congress is the national punching bag. Hyper-partisan, gridlocked, do-nothing, obstructionist, self-destructive, and any other string of pejorative descriptions that can be summoned seemed to aptly describe our national legislature. In too many cases, this view of Congress has been fostered by some members who believe there is political advantage in doing so. But—mirabile dictu—the rough beast snoozing in the Capitol has turned out to be unexpectedly productive, often on bipartisan lines.

Series of surprising successes

Even regular observers of Congress dwelled on failure. After the enactment of the underappreciated American Recovery Plan, most everything seemed to crash and burn. Build Back Better became a late-night punchline. Climate bills collapsed. Voting rights were sidetracked. President Joe Biden, whose career was built on successfully shepherding bills through divided Congresses, seemed to have lost his touch when elevated to chief executive. But the real story—too often unreported—turns out to be Biden’s perseverance, his just plain doggedness, a salesman’s ability to turn today’s “no” into tomorrow’s “yes.” And it worked. Just look: