Is Congress getting dumber?

[PegLeg45]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/congress-getting-dumber-184032926.html

Is Congress getting dumber?

Think members of Congress act like a bunch of high school students? You might be on to something. A recent study from the Sunlight Foundation found that members of Congress tend to speak at about a 10th-grade level.

The Sunlight Foundation analyzed every word spoken by every member of Congress on the floor of the House or Senate. Sunlight imported the words into a searchable database and then "ran them through an algorithm to determine the grade level of congressional discourse," according to a buzzy story from NPR.

The finding: Congress is speaking at a lower academic level. Back in 2005, members of Congress spoke at a level equal to a high school junior. Now, the numbers have dropped off. Congress talks like a bunch of sophomores. Sunlight used something called the "Flesch-Kinkaid" scale to determine speech level. Longer sentences and words with more syllables equal higher grade levels.

Some interesting factoids from the Sunlight Foundation's study:

—"Prior to 2005, Republicans on average spoke at a slightly higher grade level than Democrats. Since then, Democrats have spoken on average at a slightly higher grade level than Republicans."
—On average, Congress members who are moderate speak at a higher level. Those on the far right and left speak at a lower level.
—Don't assume you speak at a higher level than your representative. The average American speaks between an eighth- and ninth-grade level.

It is tempting to see these results and say, "Congress is getting dumber," but a piece from the Atlantic suggests another theory. Perhaps Congress is just getting better at getting its points across. After all, why make an issue or speech or anecdote more complicated than it has to be?

[MikeBjerum]

We choose them, the represent us, and they are supposed to be us. 

In the early 90's I read that the average American read and spoke at the fifth grade level.  This taken from a screening of a cross section of adults with education levels that matched our nation.  Criteria of the survey was born in the U.S., education completely within the U.S. except for foreign experience as a part of school (College trips abroad as a part of a class or major), and that the percentages of different education levels match the same percentage as the region they are from and that the over all balance match the national averages.

I think we should be selecting our best and brightest, but I also feel that it is sad we are ok with being a nation of idiots.

Take education away from the federal and state governments, put it back in the hands of the local community, and let the college entrance standards and workforce drive excellence.  Remember, those that forged this nation were educated at home, in the Church, in one room school houses, and in private schools.

[lhprop1]

The problem isn't that congress is a bunch of maroons, but that they think they're smarter than they actually are and they think they know what's best for us.  When you combine power with a lack of common sense, you're bound to get screwed.

I know plenty of people without college degrees (or even high school diplomas, for that matter) that have a lot of common sense and life experience and make better decisions than these clowns.  Hell, we'd be much better off with the guys from Swamp People sitting in DC making decisions for us.     

[Hazcat]

Is Congress getting dumber?

Is that even possible?

[MikeBjerum]

Is that even possible?

Sadly, YES!

Ten years ago we would have asked the same question, and here we are today.

[Sponsor]

[Timothy]

The average American citizen is a complete idiot.  Considering we create politicians from that gene pool, I'd expect that Congress is about average!

[BAC]

Please tell me my tax dollars paid for that little bit of "news".

[lhprop1]

Please tell me my tax dollars paid for that little bit of "news".

Wouldn't that be sweet irony to have the government pay you to tell them they're stupid.  If that were the case, we'd all be billionaires.  You could charge them more for a "follow up study" and further prove your point.

Fortunately, this was funded by the Sunlight Foundation (sounds like a group of rainbows and unicorn-type hippies) is a 501(c)(3) who gets their moolah from donations.  http://sunlightfoundation.com/about/funding/

[deepwater]

D.

[Pecos Bill]

The average American citizen is a complete idiot.  Considering we create politicians from that gene pool, I'd expect that Congress is about average!

Do you consider yourself an average American? 

Pecos