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10 Most Powerful People in Congress
#57 - 0--spud--10 Most Powerful People in Congress--2008-02-12 10:17:10
#Who are the real movers and shakers in Washington? With a lame duck President in office, who really has the power and influence to make the changes desperately needed in our country? Who should we be blaming for our current economic situation?
The
Knowlegis Power Rankings of the top Senators and Representatives show that 18 out of the top 20 most powerful congressional leaders are democrats.
Most Powerful Senators Most Powerful Representatives
Reid (D-NV) 56.12 Pelosi (D-CA) 89.80
Durbin (D-IL) 44.81 Hoyer (D-MD) 57.62
Byrd (D_WV) 43.56 Obey (D_WI) 46.06
Schumen (D-NY) 42.40 Waxman (D-CA) 39.62
McConnell (R-KY) 40.44 Beohner (R-OH) 39.09
Leahy (D-VT) 36.88 Rangel (D-NY) 39.06
Baucus (D-MT) 36.81 Miller (D-CA) 38.12
Levin (D-MI) 34.62 Dingell (D-MI) 37.62
Dorgan (D-ND) 34.56 Murtha (D-PA) 36.12
Kennedy (D-MA) 33.38 Markey (D-MA) 35.50
- Of course, when determining power, one must first define power. For our purposes, power was defined as how effective one was in advancing an agenda whether it is a personal agenda, party agenda, or state agenda. Based on that, 3 primary criteria were used:
1) Position which takes into consideration committee assignments, leadership positions, tenure, etc.
2) Indirect Influence which shows ones ability to influence congressional agenda through the media or congressional caucuses.
3) Legislative Activity which measured ones legislative activity either through direct legislation passed or one's ability to add amendments, etc.
In the final analysis, it appears that there is enough blame to go around for everyone. While there has been no shortage of blame placed on President Bush; does his performance give congressional leaders a "free pass" on their responsibility? Absolutely not! The most powerful men and women in our government are listed above. What have they been doing through out the years? They have enormous amounts of power and influence that could be used to either move our country forward or backwards.
So, where is our congressional leadership and when are they going to step forward? The democrats have held power for over a year now and there has been no meaningful legislation passed. We have been told ad nauseum how bad George Bush is; but, what have our congressional leaders done for us?
The bottom line is that the leaders above have the power, the tools, the influence to get things done, they simply haven't done it. And that is not George Bush's fault.--comments-->0--812--1
