Our leaders
Are the leaders working for us?
The same yardstick for everyone who runs the country. Pick a branch.
Do they actually work for us? One card per president (Reagan through Trump II), every part of the job graded the same way, the 0–100 number in the open and the proof one tap away.
Grade through which lens?
Default: did they work for the working class? Flip to “did the job” for pure fidelity to the office (honest, lawful, competent) with no who-benefits filter. Most categories don't move; only the △ outcome categories shift.
Ronald Reagan
Overall Performance
79/100
C+
Tap any mark for why · △ shifts in the neutral lens · numbers = the 0–100 score behind each grade
Wars / Big Events
Cold War & the INF Treaty (1987)
Grenada invasion (1983)
Beirut barracks bombing (1983)
Controversies
Iran-Contra: 11 officials convicted
Fired 11,345 PATCO strikers (1981)
1981 tax cuts tilted to high earners
Pro-employer NLRB reshaped labor law
Fired ~15 inspectors general (1981)
Bright Spots
INF Treaty cut nuclear arsenals
Tax Reform Act of 1986 (bipartisan)
O'Connor: first woman on the Supreme Court
Followed the blind-trust norm
California Wilderness Act (1984): 1.8M acres
George H.W. Bush
Overall Performance
83/100
B
Tap any mark for why · △ shifts in the neutral lens · numbers = the 0–100 score behind each grade
Wars / Big Events
Gulf War (1991): 34-nation coalition
Fall of the Berlin Wall; German reunification
Hurricane Andrew (1992)
Controversies
Iran-Contra pardons: Walsh said they “completed the cover-up”
“Read my lips”: broken tax pledge
1990–91 recession
Bright Spots
Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
Clean Air Act Amendments (1990)
START I arms treaty (1991)
Gulf War: authorized by Congress + UN (textbook)
Created the cabinet-level VA
Bill Clinton
Overall Performance
81/100
B-
Tap any mark for why · △ shifts in the neutral lens · numbers = the 0–100 score behind each grade
Wars / Big Events
NAFTA (1993)
Kosovo air campaign (1999)
Oklahoma City bombing (1995)
Controversies
Impeached: perjury & contempt findings
Defense of Marriage Act (1996)
Signed NAFTA: hit unionized manufacturing
Welfare reform / NAFTA job losses
Bright Spots
Family & Medical Leave Act (1993)
Longest peacetime expansion; budget surplus
Violence Against Women Act (1994)
Deficit-reduction + EITC lifted working families
Kept DOJ independent, even as the target
George W. Bush
Overall Performance
73/100
C
Tap any mark for why · △ shifts in the neutral lens · numbers = the 0–100 score behind each grade
Wars / Big Events
9/11 attacks (2001)
Iraq War (2003)
Great Recession (2008)
Controversies
WMD case “not supported” by intelligence
Hurricane Katrina (2005)
Warrantless surveillance; U.S.-Attorney firings
Withdrew from the ABM Treaty (2002)
Tax cuts skewed to the top
Bright Spots
PEPFAR: global AIDS relief
Medicare Part D (drug coverage)
TARP stabilized the financial system
Barack Obama
Overall Performance
83/100
B
Tap any mark for why · △ shifts in the neutral lens · numbers = the 0–100 score behind each grade
Wars / Big Events
Great Recession (inherited)
Killing of bin Laden (2011)
Hurricane Sandy (2012)
Controversies
“Deporter-in-chief”: record removals
Record FOIA denials; leak prosecutions
Expanded drone program
Slow, unequal recovery from the 2008 crash
Bright Spots
Affordable Care Act (2010)
Marriage equality (Supreme Court, 2015)
Auto rescue & recovery
~75 straight months of job growth
Lowest false-claims rate of the measured presidents
Donald Trump
Overall Performance
56/100
F
Tap any mark for why · △ shifts in the neutral lens · numbers = the 0–100 score behind each grade
Wars / Big Events
COVID-19 pandemic
Hurricane Maria (2017)
January 6, 2021
Controversies
Two impeachments
Family-separation policy (2018)
Refused to concede the 2020 election
Fired 5 inspectors general
Killed Soleimani without notifying Congress
Bright Spots
Operation Warp Speed (vaccines)
First Step Act (2018)
Abraham Accords (2020)
Started no new war
VA MISSION Act (2018)
Joe Biden
Overall Performance
84/100
B
Tap any mark for why · △ shifts in the neutral lens · numbers = the 0–100 score behind each grade
Wars / Big Events
COVID vaccination rollout
Russia's invasion of Ukraine (2022)
Maui wildfires (2023)
Controversies
Chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal (2021)
Pardoned his son Hunter
Post-COVID inflation peak (9.1%, 2022)
Expanded expedited removal at the border
Bright Spots
Inflation Reduction Act (2022)
First president to walk a picket line
PACT Act for toxic-exposed veterans (2022)
Most pro-union president since FDR
Rebuilt the refugee program (most in 30 years)
Donald Trump
Overall Performance
44/100
F
Tap any mark for why · △ shifts in the neutral lens · numbers = the 0–100 score behind each grade
Wars / Big Events
2026 Iran war: U.S. and Israel killed Iran's Supreme Leader; Strait of Hormuz oil shock
Supreme Court struck down his global tariffs (Feb 2026); market turmoil
Military strikes on Venezuela
Controversies
$1.4B in crypto income; the $TRUMP memecoin (conflict of interest)
$400M Qatar jet accepted for personal use after office (emoluments concerns)
NSPM-7 “domestic terrorism” memo (Congress, ACLU warn it targets dissent)
34 felony convictions and two impeachments (first term)
17+ inspectors general fired (ruled illegal)
Defied court orders (Abrego Garcia)
Bright Spots
Negotiated a ceasefire and framework to end the 2026 Iran war (June)
Record U.S. energy production
You can't read party off the grades. Among the highest are a Republican (H.W. Bush) and Democrats (Obama, Biden); the lowest are one person's two terms; a Democrat (Clinton) and a Republican (W. Bush) sit in the middle. Outliers are earned by the documented record, not assumed. Same yardstick for everyone.
The short version
- ✓Congress passes fewer laws than it has in decades, and blocks more than ever.
- ✓The money to influence it hit a record $5 billion; 95 of the top 100 spenders are business.
- ✓When laws do pass, the gains tilt to the top, the 2017 tax law gave the top 1% triple the share the bottom 60% got.
- ✓200+ policies most Americans agree on never even get a vote.
- ✓95% of members trade stocks while writing the rules, with a $200 fine and zero prosecutions.
Congress does less, blocks more, and what passes follows the money, not the votes.
Where Congress stands
Passing less, blocking more: president by president
How much Congress actually passed
Average public laws per 2-year Congress, Reagan to Biden. The bars shrink as you move right.
638
Reagan
620
H.W. Bush
443
Clinton
454
W. Bush
323
Obama
393
Trump I
318
Biden
Output roughly halved across the era. Honest caveat: raw counts understate it, modern bills are bigger and bundled, so one law (like the ACA) now carries what used to be dozens, and the substantive share held steady (~65–80%). The story isn't more fluff, it's fewer, bigger laws and more left undone. Trump II's 119th is still in session.
How often the Senate blocked itself
How often senators had to force a vote just to end debate and move a bill along, called 'cloture,' it's the closest measure we have of the filibuster. The bars grow as the ones above shrink.
42
Reagan
49
H.W. Bush
76
Clinton
85
W. Bush
158
Obama
265
Trump I
301
Biden
Roughly 7× more blocking than the Reagan era, even as the number of laws passed fell by half. Honest caveat: this counts attempts to break a filibuster, not filibusters exactly (some are filed just in case), and Senate rule changes in 2013 and 2017 changed how this works for nominations. The current Congress is still in session.
Who is Congress actually working for?
When a law does pass, who gets it? (2017 tax law, fully phased in)
Top 1% (over ~$838k)+$61,100
Bottom 60% (under ~$92k)+1.0% income
The top 1% gain ~2.9% of after-tax income, about triple the share the bottom 60% get.
Does Congress look like the people it represents?
Typical member of Congress$1M+
Typical U.S. household~$190K
A majority of Congress have been millionaires since 2012; only about 1 in 7 American households are. This shows the gap, not the cause.
35% → 25%
the top 1%'s average federal tax rate, 1979 → today, even as their income share soared
$200
the STOCK Act fine for trading on the job, 95% of members own stock; zero prosecutions
$174K
congressional pay, frozen since 2009, the gap is the wealth members already had, not the salary
The Legislative branch of "Are the leaders working for us?" Nonpartisan sources throughout, tap any to open it.
The short version
- ✓The Roberts Court is the most pro-business Supreme Court in a century, business wins ~63% of the time.
- ✓Public approval is the lowest Gallup has ever measured, and trust now splits sharply by party.
- ✓Its 2010 Citizens United ruling opened the money flood, and in June 2026 (NRSC v. FEC) it struck the limits on party money coordinated with candidates.
- ✓In June 2026 (Trump v. Slaughter) it overturned the 91-year-old Humphrey's Executor, letting presidents fire independent-agency officials at will.
- ✓It adopted its first ethics code only in 2023, with no way to enforce it.
The one branch no one elects has moved the rules toward business, and lost the public's trust doing it.
Where the Court stands
63%
of business cases decided the business way, the most pro-business Court in a century
What it's actually done: the record
The landmark rulings, most stated plainly. You decide what the pattern adds up to.
2010
Citizens United
Opened the door to unlimited outside money in elections.
2018
Janus
Weakened public-sector unions.
2022
Dobbs
Ended the federal right to abortion, overturning Roe, a 49-year precedent.
2024
Loper Bright
Cut federal agencies' power to regulate.
2026
NRSC v. FEC
Struck down the post-Watergate caps on party spending coordinated with candidates.
2026
Trump v. Slaughter
Overturned the 91-year-old Humphrey's Executor, presidents can now fire independent-agency officials at will.
MEASURED · Oyez ↗
The Judicial branch of "Are the leaders working for us?" Stated matter-of-factly, tap any source to open it.