Congressional 'Moneyball'

From Brookings Institute.

"Political junkies face the same situation today.  If the 113^th Congress was a sports team, it would be on a record-breaking streak of futility.  During the first session, the 113^th Congress passed fewer public laws than any other Congress since at least 1947 (see Figure 1).  And this is not for lack of trying: the number of bills introduced was on par with previous Congresses, with nearly 3,800 in the House and almost 1,900 in the Senate.   Of the 5,700 bills introduced across both chambers, only 56 - less than 1% - became public laws."

Yes, if we compare this to baseball stats, 56 for 5700 is abysmal. But in politics, one can argue this is a good thing. It's not so much the amount of laws but the quality of the bills passed. One can argue, for example, those that hurt one party (business) to benefit another (employees) is not good. Laws that limit personal freedoms (IE sugar and salt bans) as well can't be regarded as productive.


Anyway. Alan Grayson is 0 for 44 while Darrell Issa 10 for 25.

So. Who has the highest OPS and WAR and lowest WHIP?

Brookings will let us know soon enough.

I think the rise of libertarian candidates will revolutionize politics sorta like how Billy Beane and Bill James with Sabermetrics did.

At least, I hope.