1. Warm Up Why do you think that Congress has not been productive in recent years?

2. Friday, October 30, 2015 Objective: Students will be able to analyze the reasons Congress has been unproductive in recent years. Materials needed: pen/pencil, notebook, 1 sheet of paper for writing assignment Reminder: The grading period ends on November 6 (1 week from today)

3. Why Congress Has Been Unproductive Gerrymandering More concern about primary elections than general elections Election of candidates who do not want to compromise Lack of moderates in both the Republican and Democratic parties

4. Dysfunction in the 1990s 1994 Midterm Elections Republicans win control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1954 Contract with America: reforms failed, which led to Republican obstruction against President Clinton’s agenda 2 government shutdowns, which happened because of disagreements on spending for healthcare, education, and environmental protection Many Americans blamed the shutdowns on Republicans in Congress

6. Dysfunction Today Hastert Rule: a bill only is voted on by the entire House if a majority of the members of the largest party support it Freedom Caucus/Tea Party members have not compromised on legislation Played a key role in forcing John Boehner’s resignation as Speaker of the House Budget battles over Obamacare, debt ceiling Republicans have tried to use these as leverage to get concessions from President Obama

7. Other Issues with Congress Gerrymandered districts Misuse of the power to investigate Low approval ratings/disconnect with the American people Lack of new ideas Many members of Congress have been serving for many terms

8. Congressional Term Limits Should members of Congress have a limit on the number of terms they can serve? Also, do you think that 2 years is a long enough term for members of the House? Explain your positions. Your response needs to be at least ½ page in length, otherwise it will not be accepted until you have written the required amount.