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The hook with the clown car act is figuring exactly how many clowns can be stuffed inside and how they all fit. With the version of the act now playing in our nation’s capital, we cannot seem to find the limit.

I would assume that after President Obama’s killer performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday, the press corps felt so kindly disposed to the Chief Executive that they decided en masse to not ask questions about unemployment at yesterday’s Q-and-A format presser. To this macro-economic primitive, it would seem that jobs should be the Numero Uno concern of the President and Congress. Simple calculus: More people working means less government spending on safety net programs, more tax revenue, more consumption, all of which equals economic growth. With the unemployment rate barely shrinking, you would think the members of the Fourth Estate would find this a question worth asking. Instead, they piled into the car.

There is still room in the car for some members of Congress. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R- S.C.) is introducing a bill to eliminate some of statistical studies conducted by the Census Bureau. This includes those that are used in computing the unemployment and labor participation rates. (Dylan Matthews of the Washington Post discusses the full impact of the Duncan bill today in his blog post.) So, we can squeeze Rep. Duncan and the bill’s co-sponsor’s into the car.

Today’s report from the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee indicated that the Fed will continue its policy of quantitative easing, using monetary policy to stimulate the economy. In the report, the FOMC took dead aim at Congress’ spending-cut orgy, declaring that “fiscal policy is constraining economic growth.”

I’m thinking we need a fleet of these clown cars in Washington.