This Byrds B-side from 1971 – “I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician” – seems a rather appropriate song to feature on Election Day in honor of what may well have turned out to have been the least productive Congress in the modern era:
According to an NBC News report from July 31, 2014:
“The 113th Congress remains on track to be arguably the least productive Congress in modern history, according to the best available statistics on legislation that has been enacted into law.
“With it about to depart on its five-week August recess, just 142 public bills have become law in this current Congress (2013-2014) – down from the 906 the 80th “Do-Nothing” Congress passed in 1947-48, and the 333 that were enacted during the Newt Gingrich-led 104th Congress of 1995-96.
“At this same point in the last Congress (2011-2012) – which set the record for fewest bills passed into public law in the modern era – 151 bills had become law.
“There are two ways to read the statistics below. One, there has been a steady decline in the number of public bills that have become law. Two, the decline in the last two Congresses (the 112th and 113th) has been precipitous. Yes, there has been divided government before (the 104th, the 110th most recently), but the productivity has never been this low before.”
Wait – I just now noticed something: “I Wanna Grow Up to Be a Politician” was a B-side for the German and New Zealand markets only.
Song written by Roger McGuinn and Jacques Levy.
