WASHINGTON – If you think today’s politicians aren’t as sophisticated as their predecessors, you have some new ammunition. A study released today by the Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan group that promotes information about government and its representatives, said speeches by members of Congress, in terms of the reading level, slipped a full grade over the last seven years.
Using a computerized word analysis of the Congressional Record, the foundation said that the average member of Congress speaks at a 10.6 grade level, compared to 11.5 in 2005.
That’s the difference between the average levels for high school students midway through their sophomore year, compared to high school students midway through their junior year.
Whether that’s because current members are less smart, less articulate, or simply speaking more directly to the American people, the Sunlight folks don’t offer up an opinion. The group also has no way of measuring which members wrote their own speeches and who had them written for them by staff members.
Louisiana has two members near the top and bottom of Sunlight’s rankings.
Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, a lawyer, ranks 13th lowest, with a score of 8.6 (or middle of 8th grade., while Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, a graduate of the University of Louisiana-Monroe, ranks 8th “smartest,’ with a score of 13.9, or near the end of sophomore year of college.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/05/members_of_congress_speak_at_l.html#incart_river
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