Taking a page out of the extreme (though it just so happens to be election season), I found myself reading an article combining politics and reality television on Entertainment Weekly. No, really:
This is real: Discovery Channel is stranding Republican and Democratic U.S. senators on a deserted island and filming what happens.
In an aisle-crossing new reality series titled Rival Survival, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) must put their political differences aside and work together for six days and six nights in an harsh isolated environment.
Personally, I was hoping for more of an American Gladiators: U.S. Senate special or an episode of White Collar Brawlers: Legislators vs. Regulators edition announcement, but this will have to satisfy my reality soaked mind for now.
Since NTU Foundation sticks to quantifiable research (to put it far too nicely) instead of reality TV drama, I took a look at the legislation Senator Flake and Senator Heinrich have supported this Congress and how they would spend or cut together. These points below are from the BillTally project, which scores every introduced bill in Congress for changes in spending. More information on BillTally and what your elected federal officials are proposing can be found on our fancy new NTUF page.
Now, onto the details. Comparing what Senators Flake and Heinrich have sponsored and cosponsored in the First Session of the current 113th Congress, one can conclude a few things:
- If Senator Flake’s entire agenda was enacted, spending would be reduced by a net $91.5 billion (annually).
- If Senator Heinrich’s supported bills were signed into law, the federal budget would grow by $10.6 billion per year.
- Of Flake’s 13 directly supported, budget-influencing bills and Heinrich’s 33*, the two overlap on only one: S. 783, the Helium Stewardship Act (more information behind the strategic helium reserve in The Taxpayer’s Tab). NTUF scored the bill as a $415 million spending cut over five years, though this is not a cut in expenditures as much as it is a gain in receipts from selling federally-owned helium to the private sector.
- Arguably, aside from health care proposals, the two Senators have a degree of specialization. While Sen. Flake has a focus on agriculture measures, Sen. Heinrich has supported a number of bills to change education, justice, and veterans spending. Even though this does not mean the two could completely specialize in policy categories (disagreements happen everywhere), it does indicate that the two have a diversity of interests that could prove collaborative benefit them in the halls of Congress. As for how this helps them spear fish or building shelter, I’ll leave that to the show’s producers.
While this data breakdown can help us see where Senators stand on some issues, it does not translate into legislative outcomes. It also does not predict if Senator Heinrich will win the day’s challenge by sabotaging Senator Flake’s water pouch. It’s an imperfect system but so is the U.S. Senate.
What are taxpayers to do? First, start going over your Representative’s proposed agenda and let their offices know how you feel about their bills, overall agenda, and/or the direction that their bills might take America. Think of yourselves as the Big Brother house and the line-by-line BillTally report as your control panel. If the Senators (or contestants) don’t know your opinions or expectations, they likely won’t do what you want (or provide you with the entertainment that only reality TV can provide).
Next, sharpen your skills and knowledge. I know that this may seem like a Fort Boyard challenge (this is where I age myself, it’s the best of the sporty, Guts-style shows. Seriously.) but the more you understand about the background of programs and, perhaps more importantly, how they impact legislators’ constituents, the more you can see how legislators vote and the ways taxpayers can enact change. Subscribe to NTU and Foundation emails so we can tell you what bills are making their way through Congress. Better yet, laugh at this post and throw NTUF $5 to help us get the word out.
Third, consider starting a taxpayers group or association. The more the neighborhood, township, or county is organized to take on contentious tax and spending issues on a local level, the more prepared you’ll be to address national issues. If you can pass and win a Top Chef Quickfire challenge, you’ll be all the more able to win the Elimination Challenge (for the TC novice, Paul Qui, watch out for spoilers).
I sure hope that Senators Flake and Heinrich provide for some entertaining Survivor-style television, but rubbing sticks together and getting sunburns will not fix the divisive Senate nor will government be any closer to fixing the Simon Cowell of the policy world: entitlement reform. The more educated the electorate is, the better Americans can come together and rescue the marooned Senate from itself.