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Did This Congress Help Your Wallet, Or Just Pass the Buck?

Published December 15, 2014 at 11:35 AM MST

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A member of the House of Representatives departs the US Capitol after a vote narrowly approving a $1.1 trillion, nine-month federal spending bill barely two hours before a midnight government shutdown deadline, December 11, 2014 in Washington, DC. The 219-206 vote followed a bruising day of arm-twisting by the White House after dozens of Democrats split with President Barack Obama over the legislation that funds most federal operations through September, the end of fiscal year 2015. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Over the past week, lawmakers’ have scrambled to finish the fiscal 2015 budget. Now the 113th Congress is headed out, but before then, economists are looking back at what Congress accomplished for the U.S. economy during its two-year session.

Many say lawmakers did not do much to help your wallet, but the 113th Congress is not without some achievements, such as cutting spending enough to make meaningful progress on the budget deficit and passing a farm bill.

But did they pass the buck on to the 114th Congress? Tax reform, immigration, trade promotion and infrastructure rebuilding await them in the new year.

NPR’s Marilyn Geewax joins Here & Now‘s Lisa Mullins to explore this question.

Guest

Marilyn Geewax, senior business editor for NPR. She tweets @geewaxnpr.