To the Point
Is Congress as Bad as It Looks…or Worse?
Republicans took over Congress promising change, but refusals to compromise have made them historically unproductive. Is this Congress more dysfunctional than others?
By Warren Olney • • 50m ListenRepublicans took over Congress promising big change, but internal battles and refusals to compromise have made them historically unproductive. With public approval at 14%, is this Congress more dysfunctional than those of the past? Also, a British Panel finds Rupert Murdoch unfit to run News Corporation, and the largest fossil forest ever discovered is 300 million years old. Was it done in by climate change?
In this episode
3 storiesBritish Panel Finds Murdoch Unfit to Run News Corporation
"Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company." That's the conclusion of a committee of Britain's parliament after months of investigation. But it's not unanimous. Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson is Media Editor for the Financial Times .
Read the story7 minAre Congress' Extreme Politics Eroding Our Democracy?
Even some long-time Republicans are calling the current Congress the most dysfunctional since the Civil War. Public approval is 14 percent -- up from nine. What do Tea Party members have to do with it? Are they idealistic Mr. Smiths lost in Washington or another group of obedient servants to special interests?
Read the story37 minA Fossil Forest in an Illinois Coal Mine
Springfield Coal is a series of coal seams under southern Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. Miners have known them for years and now, after all that digging, paleontologists are studying what's been left behind. They have to go down… and look up, because the largest fossilized forest ever discovered is on the roof of a massive coal mine.
Read the story6 min
