What

Congress - the mere mention of the word conjures up varying images, from too much involvement in public life, to too little involvement, or from taxes that aren’t high enough, or complaints that we even have taxes. Well, this week, Congress seems to have done only one thing right, and between two major policy and spending bills, that’s really quite disappointing.

First, Congress finally passed an energy bill that at the same time raises fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, and ramps up the production of the farm lobby’s cash crop ethanol by 2020. Okay, so a fuel economy standard, although accompanied by intrusion into the economy, is a good thing. American car companies have sat on their hands since the last time the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards were enacted by Congress in 1975 (I’m talking to you General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford), while Toyota and Honda have innovated and made cash hand-over-fist in hybrid cars. So, making cars more fuel efficient by force is good, especially considering the price of gas, and the fact that no one likes carbon emissions (well, as much as we can help it).

This whole “ethanol” production business is way out of line. I can see where Congress is able to say a general increase in fuel standards is good, but making refineries produce more ethanol is a bit crazy. Aside from the fact that it drives up corn prices artificially (and numerous other farm goods because farmers rush to plant more corn to get it for mandated production quotas, so we get to pay more in food costs, which in turn hurts the lower class, but wait - at least we save on fuel costs!), it doesn’t have the widespread usage normal fuel does. According to Jason Hill of the University of Minnesota, in a study that was released last year regarding ethanol, ethanol has only modest energy gains, but significant environmental impacts. In addition to those concerns, Congress should not be telling us what type of gasoline to buy. But, guess what? Congress’s reach does not stop there!

Congress also decided to take $555 billion of your hard-earned, forcibly-taken money and spend it on frivolous pet projects that we don’t need to pay for! Yay!

Kicking off the ridiculous amounts of money spent is $5 billion spent to combat AIDS around the world, because we all know Americans can’t give money to private charities for this to happen. Then there is the $1.3 billion given to everyone’s oh-so-favorite, money-draining, government-run Amtrak! Sure, trains are nice, but they don’t work for a cross-country travelling option, especially with airlines and that nifty thing called the “Interstate Highway” system.

In addition to that, the Senate removed one layer of the double-layered, 700 mile border fence that was mandated by the Secure Fence Act last year. Rather than having two fences with a patrol road running between them (like one already built in the San Diego area), there will only be one fence. Of course, sneaky political tricks like this are quite possible, especially when it is included in a bill that is 3,565 pages long. Yes, 3,565. It stands over a foot tall. And yes, it is a spending bill, by our lobbied loving Congress.

The border fence reduction is just a feature of what happens when Congress does not do what it is supposed to do. Congress was supposed to complete this spending bill in eleven different bills, one corresponding to each of the departments they are funding. But no, here they had problems working out their differences and compromising (something they get comfortably paid to do), and went ahead and combined it all into one mega-bill and as such, were able to sneak things like this into the bill. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, there were over nine thousand earmarks for pet projects in this bill.

As a nation that is ramping up for a new election next year, we should hold our elected officials accountable for their votes, and their wasteful spending of our money. It is amazing large bills like this have not yet been criticized in presidential debates, but I will be waiting for Ron Paul to make this an election issue (something that should happen, given his record). Let’s hope at least someone will have the guts to take on the current establishment that freely spends like there is no tomorrow. We know Congress can do good things. Let’s see them do responsible things.