At Year's End #266 By Hank Silverberg MERRY CHRISTMAS The year is about to end, and a look back on 2023 gets me very nervous for 2024. This past year has been the most unproductive year in the history of the U.S. Congress. Basically NOTHING got done. They couldn't even pass a budget. There are some people who think that is good news. But it's not. Ten Democrats and eight Republicans are retiring from office when their term ends in 2024. Six senators are doing the same. I couldn't find any source on whether this is a record or not, but it sure is a large number of legislators simply quitting. And many of them have cited the lack of action by the Congress as their reason for leaving. The President hasn't had much luck either. Since his massive bi-partisan multi-billion dollar infrastructure bill passed in 2021, a lot of his agenda has fallen flat in the same do-nothing Congress. No significant legislation has passed since the