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Approval ratings for Congress are at a record low, with many conservatives believing that Congress does too much, spends too much, and many liberals 
believing that Congresspeople do too little. But what about what members of Congress say?
It turns out that Congresspeople are not only child-like in their ability to govern, but also in how they communicate. Since 2005, the average grade level at which members of Congress speak has fallen by almost a full grade, according to the Sunlight Foundation.
Lee Drutman ran Congressional floor speeches, which are part of the Congressional record, through an algorithm to determine their grade level.
“We just kind of did it for fun, and I was kind of shocked when I plotted that data and I saw that, oh my God, there’s been a real drop-off in the last several years,” he says.
In 2005, Congress spoke at an 11.5 grade level on the Flesch-Kincaid scale. Now, it’s 10.6. In other words, Congress went from talking like juniors to talking like sophomores.
Among the highest Congressional grade levels? Rep. Dan Lungren, a Republican from California, scored 16. Georgia Republican Rep. Rob Woodall registers the second-lowest grade level: 8.01.
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Richard Lovelace
May 21, 2012 at 6:11 pm
The point is made again. It is not possible to ask the uneducated to make educated decisions! This is absolutely disgusting. The shame is not on the congress elects. The shame is on the American electorate for not taking responsibility for our government and leaving it to the sleazy and the lazy. Do you really think that these guys/ladies read any part of the critical healthcare bill?
James Gibson
May 21, 2012 at 4:29 pm
How is this news???? We all know these people in Congress have personalities of Used Tires… Duh!!!
Jo Ann Smith
May 21, 2012 at 4:27 pm
How sad
Dee Dee Haymon
May 21, 2012 at 4:13 pm
true
G Kemet Uhuru
May 21, 2012 at 4:11 pm
That’s about 7 grades higher than their acting these days.
Joe Owens
May 21, 2012 at 4:10 pm
I’m not surprised. The jails in Mexico and many south American countries are NOTORIOUS, and ran by the inmate gangs. Coming to America…
Claudia Ward
May 21, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Not surprising