Yes that is right. It's the republican party gift that just keeps giving.

I personally am disappointed in the congress and place much of the blame at the feet of the Republicans.

However, given their desire for a significantly smaller government and their ongoing position that the country needs less regulation rather than more, can this be a surprise to anyone?

Unfortunately, the needs of the country have become a secondary issue to the Republican Party and we can expect no less than a continuation of this trend.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off the cliff we go...... (whistling).

Keep at it Boehner, you are going to go down as the worst Speaker of the House in history.

FOX has data that shows that Boner is actually the best speaker of the house ever.

Eric --- I think we should go over the "cliff"...when are we going to stop spending and address our debt?

If we are even going to cut into this debt, we, as in this country, are going to have to ALL pay more in taxes and spending across the board is going to need to be cut...its the same for any of us that happen to be in debt...you take in more or you cut spending...its the only way to get out of debt.

We can't keep down the same path...eventually the money will run out.

My perspective has changed greatly in the past 2 years since having 2 kids...before I didn't care about saving or my spending habits, now I do....I also don't want my kids and my grand-kids and those from their generation to be riddled in debt if changes are not made to our governments spending habits. We are $16 Trillion in debt and growing...when do we tackle this? Never?

The cliff would not be such a bad thing.

it's a do-nothing-congress ..with Boehner as Speaker because the House has monopoly over revenue bills and Senate has filibuster (meaning Republicans have control even without majority)

dont mind Eric, he believes the country's woes are because of 'conservatism'. He believes Uber Progressivism will save the world. BTW hows the Okefenokee Drainer rate up there as Speaker Eric? Bunch of shlt that people in here cant say the WHOLE of both D's and R's are responsible. Which is the case.

I never got past the first sentence. Who are these 18% of people who actually approve of the job Congress is doing?

And I agree with E.Deboo.

GNoP the party of ineffectuals and incompetence.

Republican's priorities have been to do nothing by use of the filibuster to block any legislation and make President Obama fail and be a one term President. What a great waste of taxpayer money.

Apparently they still think they can screw Washington up so bad, that Democrats will lose the next election in 2014 for House and Senate seats. Are the Republicans really that bad as to really not care about working for the country and just focus on what in some strange twisted way might benefit their political party.

They must get all their facts on public opinion and election polling from Fox News. The fair and balanced network. That worked out real well this last election. I guess they still need to be taught a lesson and they will be. Sheer lunacy.

Pigotry: How can you blame Republicans when they actually PASS things in the House but Harry Reid refuses to even let them be DISCUSSED in the Senate? Isn't that how things are supposed to work? The House passes a bill. Then the Senate discusses and makes adjustments/revisions and sends BACK to the House for debate and finalization of a compromise then goes to the president for signature or veto.

But doesn't the whole process comes to a screeching halt when the Senate Majority Leader (Harry Reid) doesn't even ALLOW it to be discussed? So it dies in the Senate without discussion or revision. So if it doesn't make its way BACK to the House isn't it clearly the fault of Harry Reid and the Democrats?

No WONDER Congress is inefficient!! We have Democrats blocking the process!!

It takes two(2), Republican and Democrat. There is NO EXCUSE for the politicians in Congress, to have not accomplished what they are PAID to do. If this was a private sector business, you people would be TERMINATED barring the inexcusable excuses you are making. I hope like HELL, you people DO NOT GIVE YOURSELVES any RAISES, until you have proven that you even deserve your regular pay, which you have shown you DO NOT! This is a poor excuse for ALL the politicians to have let the American people down TERRIBLY! Naturally the ignorant SOCIALIST, are going to blame the GOP like they do with everything. They WILL not and CANNOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY for anything in life. But all politicians are a member of the "GOOD OLE BOYS SOCIETY"! I blame ALL POLITICIANS for the LACK of PERFORMANCE!!!

History has already been made by one single Congressional individual: Mr. "Pocket Veto" or Mr. "Bypass to the Trash Bin" Reid.

How about that finger a-pointing.

Both parties are like elementary school kids on the play ground and really care nothing about Middle Class America. Then, we have someone in the Oval Office......or is that the golf course......or is that on another campaign trip.

So Pigotry, will Boehner cry when it is announced he is by far the worst and least effective Speaker of the House ever? Oh, will he just go get another tan and whine to Grover?

Ido - your stupidity about the golf course is very telling. Our President has taken less time off than your dear George and is ten times better President. Your jealousy is so telling. But, I guess when all you have to run is McCain and Mitt, well you get a little angry. Pity the Republicans have lost all semblence of sanity and integrity!

I think you are all looking at this the wrong way.

What's so damn bad about the government not writing more laws? Do we need more laws?

If you ask me, Congress needs to spend more time home in their districts solving problems at the local level rather than trying to make blanket law for all of America.

Democrats and the mainstream media have tried to paint Republicans as a regional -- and predominantly Southern -- party of white males, but nearly 30 percent of Democrats in the House will come from just two states -- California and New York -- when the next Congress convenes.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/11/20/Two-State-Party-Nearly-30-of-House-Democrats-Hail-From-CA-and-NY

Do you dems really want CA and NY having that much influence on your lives all over the country?

Boehner's Boners

From the article above:

According to a recent Gallup poll, only 18% of Americans say they approve of the work this Congress has done -- so it's more than likely it won’t go down as one of the more popular congressional bodies.

Just more proof of what a complete, incompetent House of Representatives this has been.

One of the more disgraceful periods in the history of this nation.

If it weren't for the Republican's gerrymandering of house districts, us Democrats would have cleaned house and kicked Boehner and his crack-pot posse on the streets where he belongs.

In the end, it will be poetic.

John Boehner lied to the American public back in 2010 saying the election was about "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs", and in two years, it will be Boehner and the Tea Party has-beens looking for a job.

Serves them right.

Salud

Hey Tom can you prove that there was a lie about jobs? Have there not been more jobs created since 2010? Hasn't 0bama been galavanting around for years talking about all the jobs that are being "created"

You are a classic example of a hack, you tout positive jobs data to bolster 0bama then turn around and bash Boehner for not getting you positive jobs data.

WTF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_United_States_Congress

The One Hundred Twelfth United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.

2014 cannot come fast enough to vote the Bastard GOP out of office.

I thought we just voted most of them back in.

and Ido I would say Reid sucks but so do a whole host of do nothing republicans in congress and senate. its a two street. I expected far more finger pointing from the left and i surely wasnt let down in the following posts

elliot-3020456 - Just wait untill Texas finally moves into the Dem column as their hispanic population increases.

On another note; my county, San Diego, has a population (3.14 million) which is larger than 20 states (Iowa - 3,046,355, Mississippi - 2,967,297, Arkansas - 2,915,918, Kansas - 2,853,118, Utah - 2,763,885, Nevada - 2,700,551, New Mexico - 2,059,179, West Virginia - 852,994, Nebraska - 1,826,341, Idaho - 1,567,582, Hawaii - 1,360,301, Maine - 1,328,361, New Hampshire - 1,316,470, Rhode Island - 1,052,567, Montana - 989,415, Delaware - 897,934, South Dakota - 814,180, Alaska - 710,231, North Dakota 672,591, Vermont - 625,741, Washington, D. C. - 601,723 and Wyoming - 563,626). So yes, we should have bit more of a say.

However, you can take solice in knowing that although our state's population (37.25 million) is larger than the sum of the total population of all of the above states we only get two senators just as they each of those 20 states do which gives them 40 senators to our 2!

It seems the primary problem has to do with the right wing nut job Fascist wannabes that control the Republican party. When more center leaning Republicans dominate the party more gets done. Cooperation, compromise and not my way or the highway works best as it has from the very beginnings of our great republic.

cute Adler, the GOP = Facists. Funny though that Facists dont like capitalism or guns kind of like Progressives eh.

. Cooperation, compromise and not my way or the highway works best as it has from the very beginnings of our great republic.

but what do you expect when the proposal is pass the tax increases now and we'll talk budget cuts the first of the year. 'trust me wink'. I believe neither side has good faith so dont expect the 'trust me' line to work.

CA - You know what makes me laugh? It's the left wingers have nothing good to say about President Bush, they wanted him impeached, tried for war crimes, call him every vile and nasty name in the book. Obama and the left continues blaming Bush for all of the financial problems. Yet they are willing to fight for President Bush's tax cuts (especially those that effect them personally). I would think they would want to do away with anything that Bush signed, even their tax cuts, why would they accept something from the President they loath.

And with the Do Nothing Party headed by Bonehead Boehner leading the House expect nothing to get done unless it rewards the rich. The republicans are getting the label, "Party for the Rich!" It is also interesting that they appointed all white males to head committees for Congress in the next term. They just keep alienating themselves from America and Americans!

The article does not refer to the House more than the Senate. The extra's for the House are a mention that the House clerk keeps records, a reference to the Maine House of Reprsentatives, and staing the fact that the session will end when the House adjourns (probably before the Senate). Any reader claiming that this article blames the House more than the Senate is demonstrating the exact bias they claim the article has.

Any reader who follows the news in an unbiased fashion knows that the House is at fault for this, however. It doesn't say that anywhere in the article. Remember that Mr Boehner had a budget deal in 2011 with the President that was 80% cuts and only 20% revenue increases, but couldn't deliver the Tea Party. Ineffective leadership like that is why nothing is getting done.

Heck of a job, Party of No.

By passing just 196 bills into law so far

Not enough laws on the books already I suppose.

Did they repeal any laws? What does each law passed cost the taxpayer?

Thank God that we had a Republican House of Representatives and a enough Republican Senators to stop most of the worthless bills that the President and the left wing Senate wanted. Can anyone even image how much more in debt the US would be if Obama had gotten just half of the requested spending he wanted.

IMO, the Republicans voted to retain control of the House in order to curb the spending and left leaning polices of the Obama Administration. (The Senate was lost because of the far right stupidity on social issues.) The President and Congress (at least half) should be from the opposite parties. Also, I believe the fewer bills passed the better. We have so many laws now no one can keep up with them and we just keep passing more.

Thank God that there are 11 less teabuggers coming to serve in the next term of Congress and that God prevented the republicans from taking the White House. God hear our prayer, "Stop these extremists that are pro business and Anti-American. Warmongers first and serve the rich second!

This is terrific news!!!

Our country needs LESS legislation, not more. Look at the list of those hundreds of bills, many of which were not even READ before passed, heaping more and more regulation on our citizenry!!

Our tax code is 72,000 pages.

Obamacare is 2,800 pages.

Our debt is 16 trillion.

Congratulations, Speaker Boehner on keeping some restraint in the House!!!

This is probably because some of these people have been serving in Congress SINCE the 1940's.

TERM. LIMITS.

Kick them all out at this point.

Sure, Arthur66 - whoop it up because those boys we're paying $174,000 a year (plus benefits) are sitting on their thumbs while our country struggles through the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Yay for the entitlement junkies! Yay for the "takers"!

Whoopee!

(Do you guys ever stop and listen to yourselves?)

They wonder why their approval rating sunk through the floor? Maybe its because they won't compromise on ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!! We just voted these guys back in why? Heres my thoughts:

1: On The Senate. Nothing will pass without Filibuster/Hold. Problem #1.
2: The House won't pass anything that isn't ultra-right-wing...
3: The Dem's have not been bending over backwards to get things done... (they have at least been compromising though).

So. If you want my opinion? Vote out the Republicans (at least the Tea-Partiests) and replace them with Moderates (even if they are still republicans). Watch what happens. The number of bills will double/triple.

I just don't understand how people keep voting these GOWR back into office after they keep doing nothing for the voters, and everything for the big money that supports them.

The problem is this= The Republicans refuse to raise taxes on the wealthy. So I want our Democrats to take a pledge not to raise taxes on 98% of the people under no circumstances. That way there we all lose. But for sure, you Republicans will be voted out in 2014.

@ GuyFromSanDIego post 1.3,

This is what the Republican Party has been fighting for, for the last 4 years. Less Government or is it less work by the Government? It's a shame we have to pay them no matter how much work they do or don't do! Do we really need so many to do nothing? Seems like more government waste.

The Republicans made a pledge to all Americans not to raise their taxes. All Americans.

But yes, Michael, the reason the country is in the sh!tter is because the government is missing out on 7-8 billion additional dollars a year...Yup, thats it.

And yes we do need so many doing nothing it's called representation and it's in the Constitution.

Americans in government?

Hi Musical,

I've read each post above. I'm disheartened, but not surprised, by the tone of those posts written by liberals. No substance, but lots of invective. Of those above yours is the least offensive. I think your analysis is wrong, but rather than call you names or suggest your head is located in an improbable position, I thought I'd try to ask you two questions and see what you thought.

First, do you think more laws for the people of a nation that was borne of a desire for personal liberty is really the best way to measure the competency and/or effectiveness of our Congress?

Second, on what bill have Democrats shown any desire to compromise with Republicans? I don't mean naming post offices, or anything else inconsequential. A non-conservative author, Bob Woodward, has written that Republicans worked hard to find a compromise with Mr. Obama during 2011 for the debt ceiling problem and that Mr. Obama, after demanding revenue concessions and getting them, then backed away from a deal. It got so bad that a staffer for Harry Reid (believe it or not) criticized and chastised Mr. Obama in that WH meeting.

I don't think Mr. Obama is a good president at all. It has little to do with my politics or policy preferences though. I judge a president by his willingness to face political danger and to craft a solution, and then to lead on the issue to get the work done. Unfortunately I think there isn't one instance, so far, in which Mr. Obama has had the courage to lead. This, and I get the possible inconsistency here, may in fact be the one thing that allows the USA to survive Mr. Obama's two terms without even more damage.

For my part, and I'm not part of the 18%, I think Congress does too much anyhow, but that what it does it largely does wrong. With a bit of luck and a lot of pain maybe more voters will, finally, want less from DC.

You know what, I hope that the Republicans in congress pass every bill that the Democrats throw at them. That way, the bills the Liberals made will destroy the American economy, then people will finally realize that Liberal policies don't work. Do I want the economy to crash? No, but unfortunatly, it will end up crashing anyways. America will end up looking like Greece if we don't get out of debt, but if Democrats want to keep spending, let them spend. $16 trillion and counting...

It is stupid evaluate congress by the numbers of bills they pass, we got too many laws, the whole system is already confuse, full of norms and regulation. Obama said , in order to provide better help to the victims of Sandy he got to cut some red tape, however liberals are the ones that love more Laws and regulations. The government is more intrusive in our lives with more laws telling how to live our lives, we are losing freedom. We need laws to prevent from bad members of congress, we need laws to limit the time that a members of congress serve, we need laws to make sure member of congress and their employees do not get benefits that regular people don't have.

Hi Moshuluu,

I see complaints like yours all the time, but they never seem to be attached to any rational argument to make the case. So what is your point? That Republicans only care about the wealthy and do their bidding in Congress? Aside from being little more than a bit of agitprop I think the conclusion is provably false. Wealthy people, while not monolithic, don't think that hurting the middle class will in any way help them. I'd suggest that the wealthy, unlike you, understand that federal policy, often misguided, has made the lives of the non-wealthy much harder than before. So if one owns a business how, exactly, would more people with less money improve your success?

Maybe you have a great argument to prove your point. I doubt it, but I'll give it a fair read if you post it.

Seeing liberals whine because they can't get their way... warms my heart.

If you want to get something done stop attacking our Constitution, spending like drunken sailors and trying to take from people.

Property rights, free enterprise and capitalism built this country and without those things there is nothing to take or any America at all.

We thrived for the 123 years that income taxes and redistribution were constitutionally forbidden... by our founders... and every tax dollar paid reduces our freedoms and makes us less American.

We are not going to just sit by and wait for you to come take our money or our weapons, the right to pursue property and to defend oneself are natural and inalienable, and this Congress has done an excellent job of abating the attacks on those natural rights.

By the way...while the numbers are different today the concepts and conversations remain the same. In 1963, shortly before his death and as the campaign began to take shape, JFK (it's on tape and you can hear it for yourself if you want) asked his political staff about what level of income voters move from being reliably Democratic towards being Republican. The answer then was $10k per year. But the question you should ask is why, if the president cares about all the voters (think about the 47% remark here), would he care about the income level at which voters begin to vote for his political opposition?

Could it be that political considerations pervade public policy? This is no more surprising than Louis in "Casablanca" being shocked that gambling is occuring. Of course political consequences matter when considering public policy. This, not insignificantly, is just one of many reasons why people should want DC to do less for them. So if Democrats tend to want voters to remain at an income level which keeps them voting reliably for Democrats, why would you blame Republicans for, say, the $4k per year decline in yearly income levels since he's been president? Republicans don't want falling incomes, we want just the opposite. It is Democrats who prefer lower incomes rather than higher incomes, with one MAJOR caveat...If the incomes can be increased through governmental gifts or largesse, then Democrats will favor higher incomes. The reason? Those getting the benefit of those gifts or largesse know who gave it to them and will vote accordingly.

I would love to be wrong about this, but just saying Republicans want people to be poor, or that Republicans want the rich satisfied at the expense of the middle or lower classes, without a reasonable argument to back up the claim, is nothing but partisan hackery.

Caesar Augustus... I beg to differ with you. You seem to have confused CORPORATISM/CRONYISM with TRUE CAPITALISM which doesn't really exist in this country. CORPORATISM = FASCISM = GOP

Capitalism is the political system which ensures that innocent "economic power" (i.e., the power to produce) isn't mixed with force to become invalid political power (i.e., the power to loot); it's the system that separates business and state, for the same good reason that it also makes sure to separate church and state.

Government, in turn, improperly controlled by business for business's exclusive benefit (whether by subsidies, special favors, monopolies and franchises, tax breaks, or bailouts), even as it nominally still permits private property holdings: it's called "corporatism" (sometimes, synonymously, "cronyism" or "fascism").

In Capitalism, all businesses have to compete for goods. Competition means that prices will decrease, wages for workers will increase, and there will be products/services of higher quality.

In Corporatism, the lobbyists from the wealthy and well connected businesses are protected by the Federal Government. The Feds give bailouts and corporate welfare to monopolies, and constrain small business. Corporations also exert a lot of control over the Gov.

That's the difference. REPUBLICANS are CHAMPIONS of Corporatism while it's DEMOCRATS who champion REAL Capitalism.

The Tea Bag NUT JOBS

YEA YOU ALL YOU RIGHT WING NUTS

The GOPee has produced the biggest laughing stock House or should we call them the OUT HOUSE

the worst IN AMERICAN HISTORY lead by the drunk Bone Head The weeper of the House

Never Stop Asking Questions

Heck of a job, Party of No.

Parties of no! The Dems are refusing to consider even one thing coming from the House.

Because the BULL S H IT bills coming out of the House that are being pushed by Rethugs are DETRIMENTAL to the middle and lower classes, women, elderly, children, gays, minorities etc. Those bills should NEVER get any kind of consideration....AT ALL. Republican bills do NOTHING but help REPUBLICANS destroy the country and promote Corporatism and try to inject phony xtian "morals" into legislation where they have absolutely NO BUSINESS being.

Thank goodness for WISE men like Harry Reid who are trying to PROTECT us from the GOP Corporatheocracy.

gemini618

Caesar Augustus... I beg to differ with you. You seem to have confused CORPORATISM/CRONYISM with TRUE CAPITALISM which doesn't really exist in this country. CORPORATISM = FASCISM = GOP

That's the difference. REPUBLICANS are CHAMPIONS of Corporatism while it's DEMOCRATS who champion REAL Capitalism

Nice try, picking winners and losers , giving exceptions to one group of industry and putting higher taxes to the other isn't capitalism. Bang a company , providing tax payer money to produce goods that the only way to compete in the market is giving thousand of dollar in subsidy isn't capitalism nor free market. What are you talking about. DEMOCRATS ARE CHAMPION OF THE CRONY CAPITALISM.

Oh boohoo, the mean old Republicans won't give me other peoples money, boohoohoo!

rediculous metric. They could pass a 1000 laws regarding inane things and then they would be the "Best"? I would rather have 0 laws than 10000 bad ones. Sadly keeping up with what congress publishes long ago became impossible. Anyone seen the Plain Language Act of 2010? LOL!

By passing just 196 bills into law so far, it is in the running to become the least productive Congress since the 1940s.

Why is this bad? We dont even follow the laws we have now...Take illegal immigration for example. Stay tuned for the war on Xmas. Libs, the party of war!

gemini618, #1.54 and #1.57- EXCELLENT!!!!!!!

oskar...you're high. Get off the Conservacrack.

• Vote the nitwit TEABags out!!

1. They think nothing of holding the american economy hostage
2. They think nothing of wasting the taxpayer's money and time for political reasons
3. They think nothing of creating CHAOS with such laws as Voter ID(suppression)
4. They think nothing of creating CHAOS with such laws as "Stand Your Gound",etc.
5. GET THE TEA PARTY CONGRESS OUT OF THERE!!!!!

Dear Republicans, you may not have noticed, but on election day the american people said NO TO YOU. So as much as you love to complain about Obama, it is your duty to let him lead for the rest of his term. You have no moral right to try to run the white house from congress, or ruin it. Try loving america for a change. Love it or Leave it. thank you and have a nice day.

I guess when you go into Congress with the mentality that you will do nothing to move the country forward for the sake of making the President a one termer, this is what you get. When all your hard work and effort into putting up money against him, voter ID laws, redistricting to make their party more favorable, etc......all the while holding the country at bay while you play politics just so rich and powerful can keep their precious tax breaks backfires, then you know you have a problem. But that's not the point here.

What republicans should find disturbing is that more and more of them are coming out and agreeing with the President regarding the tax breaks for middle class and allowing taxes to go up for those top earners. What's really funny about it is every time one comes out agreeing with the President, the others hold a press conference sticking with the same talking points that didn't work the last time. You would think they would FINALLY put politics aside and start doing what's best for the country since doing what's best for the part was a epic failure, and they call President Obama a failure.......

From all the headlines of MSNBS one would think there is no Senate or a President at all....lol

We have way too many LAWS, Congress needs to be abolished !!!!!!!!!!!!!! These are Old farts that should be put out to pasture.

"How can you blame Republicans when they actually PASS things in the House but Harry Reid refuses to even let them be DISCUSSED in the Senate?"

• Passing a bill in one house of congress that everyone knows has no chance of passing in the other house isn't leadership, it's not a solution, it's not bold, it's nothing more than grandstanding.

Vote every republican out of every office every chance you get.

Like I said before, having 11 less teabuggers in Congress in 2013 is a message that the right isn't listening to. Pack your bags. We are sick of all of you! 2014 and you're gone along with Bonehead!

Maybe the Brits have the right idea: Dissolve Congress as they do Parliament by a "Vote of No Confidence". That way we do not have to wait for any "Re-Elections".

So we have the least productive congress since the 1940's, and the good news is that we will have the same congress again. We have Obama running against the failed policies of the past, only to replace them with the failed policies of the present. Why do voters keep sending the same people to Washington but expecting different results? Both sides of the isle are stuffed with career politicians that have played a major role in bringing this nation down. Yet voters keep sending them back to continue their work of selling out the American people for personal and political gains. They pass laws, but exempt themselves. ObamaCare would have been a well thought out well written piece of legislation if members of congress weren't exempt from ever having to be a part of it. Term limits for members of Congress, an entirely new simplified tax code, and a balanced budget amendment remain this nations only hope. Washington does nothing but create problems, and they have absolutely no track record for ever solving any.

ProBusiness

Maybe it is the least productive because Harry Reid won't allow any bills signed by the House of Representatives to be at least DISCUSSED on the Senate floor?

Nope! Guess again...

Now that we've proven our form of democracy to be unworkable, how do we expect the rest of the world to emulate it ?

Maybe we have too many laws? Perhaps we could use less congresspeople to pass less laws.

When is enough, enough?

Guess what? All of you who complain about the parties and how they have done nothing flushed your chance to fire them 3 weeks ago. Oh, lets just vote for our Party, it doesn't matter that 82% of Americans are unsatisfied with how they have done their job. Oh, that's right, THEY HAVE NOT DONE THEIR JOB!! Get off the party line BS and start voting for people who will do the job. It does not matter if they are Republican or Democrat, neither Party has done anything for this country in the last 6-8 years and that includes when Pelosi was sitting in the top seat. Enjoy the election results you all put in place. I am umemployed, but do not count as I will not take a handout like so many in this country who use the handout as their job. So the actual numbers on unemployment are wrong. Sorry to bust your bubble Dems, but after you have received as much compensation as allowed, you fall off the list and your unemployment number no longer counts on the percentage we see on the news weekly. This Congress and government that WE the people have elected has done nothing and will do nothing. They are not struggling. They will close out the 112th Congress with nothing accomplished except the blame game and have a wonderful, enjoyable Christmas holiday at their huge vacation homes funded by your taxes and will not think twice about what they have done to this country and the people who have elected them. Enjoy your election results!

elliot-3020456

I think you are all looking at this the wrong way.

What's so damn bad about the government not writing more laws? Do we need more laws?

This is exactly what I was going to say. I think we have enough laws.

This is exactly what I was going to say. I think we have enough laws.

I think you should look at it from a substantive point of view, rather than a quantitative point of view. The fact is, there is legislation that needs to be passed, and some that doesn't. There are laws that should be taken off the books too.

Hi Hal,

You could be correct. I don't think so. I agree with your idea that we should look at substance rather than quantity (you said quality but I think you had to mean quantity since quality would take into account substance), but the idea that something needs to be passed and something doesn't isn't, itself, a very helpful metric.

Historically Congress passes those things voters want. There is no long term desire by voters that was refused by Congress. This is the main structural flaw in our constitution that our framers knew about, but also knew no way exists to fix it without causing more flaws to surface. In any case where voters didn't get their way the amendment process would exist in any event. So the idea there is some unity about what to pass and what not to pass is just false.

In fact, the recent election is the most obvious and clear proof to the contrary. If voters wanted more of what Republicans offer then voters would have given Democrats less power. And if voters wanted more of what Democrats offer then voters would have given Republicans less power. A minor shift of a few seats following the wild blowout in 2010 doesn't mean voters rejected Republicans. What the election means is that voters are divided and neither side was willing to capitulate. This, to me, substantively means that voters want Congress to continue to do very little.

And for those who think an 18% approval rate is bad...Congress has NEVER had a very high approval rate, and certainly not for very long if they did (those times coincide with major events, like Pearl Harbor and the Congressional declaration of war). The system is designed so that I can vote for who I want in the House emphatically while still holding the House itself in low repute. See, if you other people would quit voting for idiotic leftists so my side could get its way, then House approval would increase. The mirror opposite is true too. The Senate, after the 17th Amendment, suffers from the same design.

Libs, the party of war!

I vote this as the stupidest comment of the day, if not, maybe of all time...

I must be among a very few people who find the mantra of the left that Republicans, because they lost a small number of House and Senate seats, ought to just fall in line and do what Democrats want as laughably inconsistent? Leftists, tell me please, when Republicans more than decimated House and Senate Democrats in 2010 were you out telling your party to just get in line with what Republicans wanted to do? Because, if so, I think Harry and Nancy and the others gave you the bird in reply.

Hey gunner,

I'm sorry to hear about your plight, and I'm sorry that being sorry is no help to you. I think the problem hasn't been that Congress has done nothing to help for 6 to 8 years, but rather is that Congress has done a great deal to harm in the past 80 or so years. We've forgotten, as a people, what made the USA great and powerful in the first place, and decided to replace that economic/political/cultural paradigm with something which continues to evolve into a more or less European model. What a shame there too, since most people have given little thought to how and why Europe evolved as they have.

One or two minor areas of correction. The homes of those in Congress--and I can think of no exceptions--aren't funded by taxpayers (except to the extent those in Congress have used their pay, which does come from taxpayers, to buy a home). And so long as you continue to look for a job, whether you are receiving unemployment benefits or not, you are included in the reported unemployment numbers.

Those statistics are fairly useless in any event. We should care more about the Labor Participation Rate, the number of average hours worked, and the rate of change in after-tax earnings of workers. If we did we could see if employment is increasing relative to the population, whether workers are moving towards full time work or not, and whether disposable incomes are increasing or not. But these statistics are harder to report since most reporters are far too lazy to dig into them, and they would allow elected officials less ability to spin them.

Very little ever gets done without leadership at the top.

"Nothing is easier than blaming others for our troubles, and absolving ourselves of responsibility for our choices and our actions. Anybody can do that. Responsibility and leadership in the 21st century demands more." - Barack Obama - First United Nations Speech - September 23, 2009

“The fact that we're here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. Leadership means 'The buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. - Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill, Senate Floor Speech on Public Debt, March 16, 2006

President Obama has tried to work with these fools. They are the worst Congress ever. All they see are $$$$ and they care nothing for me or you. They are worried about the top 2% of the wealthiest people in this country and it's wrong. WE MUST GET THEM OUT!

Obama is a joke and couldn't lead a flea to a camel's ass. As for Democrats.....they have been in power in California and New York and those states are in a death spiral of debt. Keep electing Democrats and we won't have a country anymore.

Hi Diverdown,

I've repeatedly asked people such as you to offer up any example or two of your claim that Mr. Obama is a great compromiser. So far, nothing. I even point to a book written by Bob Woodward--he is in no way a conservative--in which it is clear that Mr. Obama, even AFTER getting what he demanded from Republicans, then backed away from a deal. What we got, as a result, was the debt ceiling increase in 2011 that included within the deal the very makings of this fiscal cliff.

I really don't care that you hate Republicans or their policy ideas. But I do care that people like you are so completely misinformed that you are able to support the very people who refuse to do the things you credit them with, and oppose the very people who have accepted (time and again, unfortunately) to do the things you claim they have refused.

We are in deep kimshee, to be sure. But not because Congress has failed to act. We are in up to our necks because too many voters exhibit no more comprehension or appreciation of what has happened than you do, and then vote accordingly.

Hmmm... Only 196 Bills? They must have run out of ways to regulate or deny abortion rights via legislation, otherwise I'm sure they could have passed a lot more than that.

18 % is way too high of an approval as far as I'm concerned!!!! That 18 % approving must be Republicans.

Take away the bills renaming post offices and they really look pathetic.

Its the republicans. LOL

By passing just 196 bills into law so far, it is in the running to become the least productive Congress since the 1940s.

Why is this a bad thing? Doing nothing at all would save a lot of tax money.

So Obama needs to babysit these grown adults so that they will do their jobs? In the private sector, they'd be fired.

Almost forgot!

Hidden in these numbers is the House's fearless leaders attempt to repeal ObamaCare 33 times at a price tag of; $50 million bucks!

So much for fiscal conservatism! lol

Obama has led all along, and now we get the same "obstructionism" the Republicans did the first 4 years.

We need a different house. Warm up the campaigns for 2014.

The problem is, they didn't lose enough seats.

The result; the Dems got massacred in the mid terms. Keep it up Dems, and we will have the Senate as well in 2014.

...like how Republicans were supposed to win control of the Senate in 2010?

...like how Republicans were supposed to win control of the Senate in 2012?

Oh, goody. I can't wait.

Could it be the President Feisty?

Has ObamaClaus provided any leadership on the running of the country? Didn't he defer ObamaCare to Harry and Nancy when he controlled both houses?

Now that Barry was elected by a 51/49 margin, does that make it a peoples mandate that all kneel and rubberstamp what Barry wants?

Fiesty,
I do believe there at the end the approval rating for Conress was below double digits.
Like 9%.
Worse than Nixon....lol.

Try again funnylookingirl, Romney got the vote of, wait for it....wait for it.....the 47%. yep, Romney got 47% of the vote. How ironic. That means funny and her pals are the 47%. Imagine that!

Chris - you're no Rhodes Scholar. President Obama had a filibuster proof majority for a scant 44 days - after which the Republicans filibustered everything he tried to do more than any time in history.

Clearly it's time you went back to school!

One more thing...

Anyone who believes paying these clowns $173K per year + full benefits to work on average 9 days a month and NOT do the peoples work, needs to have their heads examined!

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL

One more thing...

Anyone who believes paying these clowns $173K per year + full benefits to work on average 9 days a month and NOT do the peoples work, needs to have their heads examined!

THIS IS PROBABLY THE ONLY THING I AGREE IN TOTAL WITH YOU ON !

The percentile wouldn't be anywhere close to 18% if a significant portion of the sampling had not included members of congress and/or their staffs. The last I saw before the election was 12% approval for the entire congress and just over 9% for the House.

The numbers increased because, There are more Democrats elected to the Senate and house in 2012 elections, and when 2014 elections come around and we have the House back we will see the number go Higher

Anyone know what the Fux Nuze is blaming Obama today for? Everyday the chicken littles at that station complain about Obama, there needs to be a Law that you can choose what stations you want to be able to watch and pay for, why should a portion of my cable bill go to Fux Nuze if i dont watch it and i dont want it

Wow...you Conservatives kicking and screaming and throwing a hissy about "lack of leadership" from President Obama are pretty damn funny. See, here's the thing...

...I kinda remember as a kid in school someone taught me a thing or two about how government operates under the Constitution. Now, granted, it's been a while since I was in school but as I recall, there was some business about three separate but equal branches of government. Then the teacher went on to explain to me that one of those separate but equal branches was the "Legislative Branch" (read: CONGRESS). I suspect that somewhere along the way some of you might have been taught the same thing.

Now, we have had "Imperial Presidents" in the past...as I recall, "The 43rd President of the United States" just so happened to be one...with a Republican Congress and a Republican President serving as rubber stamps for each other. Ideally, however, that's not how it works.

The President can try to lead Congress, negotiate with Congress, bargain with Congress, plead with Congress or even hold Congress' hand but he can not lead a coalition of the unwilling (there is no coalition of the willing in Congress right now) and he can not make them agree on anything (and right now they can not agree on anything).

16 Trillion in debt. Thank You Bush for 11 Trillion of it and Obama put 2.5 Trillion on thebooks because of 2 unfunded wars, Bush collapsed the economy so you think employment should be sky high? welcome to free market capitalism for everything being sky high, Incomes are down because the job creators arent creating any jobs and they have the lowest tax rate in 40 years, and why did the GOP say no to a request for 300 million for more overseas security. Jeeezzzzz you would think of something real to spout off about instead of FUX NUZE pie in the sky talking points

We are in piss poor shape and this nitwit is intent on making matters worse.

Escaped the dreaded Newsvine "ban" for one more day... eh... Raaaab in MA?

Who doesn't love losers like yourself who haven't figured out yet, YOU are NO longer welcome here? Then again, you're a typical right wing nitwit who believes RULES don't apply to you! lmao

No problemo, your sorry little re-reg ass is on borrowed time little buddy!

You struck out again Casey.

This Great Recession will forever belong to you republicons. You created it. But you have been trying to blame someone, anyone else for your actions.

Unemployment peaked in 2009 at 10% and is now under 8% and dropping.

Housing starts are up!

Housing prices are up!

The Dow jones went under 8,000 and has come back to 13,000. How is your 401 doing?

OBL is dead. Mission Accomplished.

The national debt is down to the same level as it was in 2006.

The deficit has been going down for 3 straight years.

Rome was not built in a day and your Great Recession can not be fixed in a decade. FDR's New Deal delivered 9% growth year after year and it still took decades before the average American got back to where he was in 1928.

Nice photo of construction going on for the viewing stand for upcoming inaugeration.

Such a special day in America. So many memories of presidents being sworn in throughout our lifetimes.

Shortly after his inauguration, William Henry Harrison came down with a cold, which quickly transformed into pneumonia. On April 4, 1841, having only served 31 days in office, President William Henry Harrison died. He was the first President to die in office and still holds the record for serving the shortest term.

Vice President Andrew Johnson hadn't been feeling very well for several weeks before inauguration day. To get him through the important day, Johnson drank a few glasses of whiskey. When he got up to the podium to take his oath, it was obvious to everyone that he was drunk. His speech was incoherent and rambling and he didn't step down from the podium until someone finally pulled on his coattails.

In 1837, outgoing President Andrew Jackson and President-elect Martin Van Buren rode together to the Capitol on inauguration day in the same carriage. Most of the following Presidents and President-elects have continued this tradition of traveling together to the ceremony. In 1877, the inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes began the tradition of the President-elect first meeting the outgoing President at the White House for a short meeting and then traveling from the White House together to the Capitol for the ceremony.

Back in a time when news was carried by messengers on horses, there needed to be a great length of time between Election Day and inauguration day so that all the votes could be tallied and reported. To allow this time, inauguration day used to be March 4.

By the early twentieth century, this huge amount of time was no longer needed. The inventions of the telegraph, the telephone, automobiles, and airplanes had greatly cut the reporting time needed. Rather than make the lame duck President wait for four whole months to leave office, the date of inauguration day was changed in 1933 to January 20 by the addition of the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Amendment also specified that the exchange of power from the lame duck President to the new President would take place at noon. Franklin D. Roosevelt was both the last President to be inaugurated on March 4 (1933) and the first President to be inaugurated on January 20 (1937).

http://history1900s.about.com/od/fadsfashion/a/inauguration.htm

To C.T. and his friends from the Political right/When the debt is as large ,in any nation as our debt is ,then realistically the interest on that debt is out of sight.That is how Bankruptcy is created.I am shocked that you don't understand this simple rule of economics. I am not an economist nor am I good with my family finances.That is why I depend on my wife's s control of our financial structure. We in this country have given that job to our Reps. in the H.O.Reps. It is also the reason that many of us blame the previous P.O.T.U.S. and his supporters. We also have allowed the former Congresses to make either no or unforced rules that allow our industries to outsource jobs despite strong Union negative support. I hasten to add that outsourcing had our former Democratic P.O.T.U.S. support . This has been prov en to be disastrous for our country.We have also either lessened or dissolved many of our rules over our industries . We need to have Representatives whose aim is to advance the living standards of all Americans and not the obscene wealth of our 1+% of our richest part of our population. Yes it is the fault of previous administrations that we are in this terrible state.Our Reps. need to stop passing the buck and start to do the job that we have hired them to do.

Why is this a bad thing? Doing nothing at all would save a lot of tax money.

How's that, are you saying you're willing to pay these idiots to do MORE of NOTHING? The way I see it, you'd be wasting money paying this crew of uselss individuals who are not doing what the American people tells them to do.

Deck The Halls

Here are some lovely photos of Michelle Obama and Bo as the XMAS decorations go up in the White House. Bo is well represented in the decorations.

Cute stuff.

http://theobamadiary.com/2012/11/28/deck-the-halls-2/#comments

And a related story underscores why this headline will be repeated again next year . . . .

"Key Republicans raise new questions about potential Susan Rice nomination"

More Republican bs is on tap. It beats actually working for the people. Let's distract, obscure, make smoke and hope no one notices that we work for the wealthy and their stooge, Grover Norquist.

Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL

We are in piss poor shape and this nitwit is intent on making matters worse.

Escaped the dreaded Newsvine "ban" for one more day... eh... Raaaab in MA?

Who doesn't love losers like yourself who haven't figured out yet, YOU are NO longer welcome here? Then again, you're a typical right wing nitwit who believes RULES don't apply to you! lmao

No problemo, your sorry little re-reg ass is on borrowed time little buddy!

More of Fiesty's s***.

Just another rude communist.

rediculous metric. They could pass a 1000 laws regarding inane things and then they would be the "Best"? I would rather have 0 laws than 10000 bad ones. Sadly keeping up with what congress publishes long ago became impossible. Anyone seen the Plain Language Act of 2010? LOL!

Why Democrats are so angry to get the House back , when in 2 years with Obama did nothing to fix the economy, Wall Street is the same and Obamacare is 3,000 of pages that require thousands more pages in regulations, taking over the whole health system with more bureaucracy in order to provide, free contraceptives, no pre-existing condition and extend the the insurance for kids until 26 years old. At a price tag of 1.73 trillions in 10 years and stealing 800 billions dollars from Medicare.

I guess the republicans did not understand the gravity of the last election and the message it sent. America want's the congress to follow Obama's lead. Romney lost for good reasons, you guys are out of touch with main stream America. "you better start swimming or you'll sing like a stone, for the times they are a changin' (bob Dylan sang that lol) who ever he was. :)

@1funnygirl

Romney didn't lose 51% to 49%, he lost 51% to 47%, ironic, isn't it?

Here are some of the things that most of those right leaning folks on this site have(if i can borrow this phrase) "Romnesia" over the past 4 years:

1. Obama was elected President, Republicans met and vowed to do nothing but obstruct anything the President had to offer.

2. They asked the President for a budget(which is the Congress' job to create), He provided them one with modest cuts to vital programs while creating revenue to pay down the debt. Republicans said NO!

3. They asked the President for his "plan" to deal with the debt ceiling(something that hasn't been debated in over 20 years). Boehner and the President produced the "Grand Bargain", the Republicans AGAIN said NO!

4. The Republicans ran a campaign of "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" but didn't produce not one jobs bill that would have done anything to balance the budget, it didn't pass.

5. The President presented his own jobs bill that was not only paid for BUT would not have added to the debt, AGAIN the Republicans said NO! (Actually the whole Senate said no in order to preserve the bill)

Each time the Republican "establishment" asked the President to present his ideas he has done it and most of the "ideas" were Republican ideas AND were paid for and each time the Republicans said NO! But yet people want to contend that the President is not "leading" the country and putting good ideas on the table to get the country moving.

Everybody forgetswe are still going by the same spending based on the last budget passed 5 years ago. But yet it's Obama's fault that Congress couldn't get their act together then and can't get it together now. And you wonder why the country is in shambles now.

Isn't it amazing that ALL that is wrong is the Republicans. The democrats with the help of the Main Stream media are the saviors of the US. I have never seen such a line- Democrats Good- Republicans Evil.

REALLY? I believe the horrific propoganda by the democrats have split the country. Obama has effectively

divided this country - Racism- Cultural- religious- economic. Now he can break it economically.

In reading many of the comments on several stories I think I can safely say - the country has a HUGE problem. The Democrats HATE the republicans. How did they get so rabid? I think they drank the "COOL Aid". Point - WE are Americans - WE need to work together. - WE will disagree-

United WE stand and Divided WE fall.

Step back - have you ever seen a campaign where one is severely beaten up by the media and the other is never touched? Doesn't this bother or scare you? Why does the main stream media not criticize Obama? Why do they gloss over anything that might be negative for him? NO Democrat or Republican have ever been treated this way. Both Clinton's have been hammered by the Media. Why do they not touch Obama? Wouldn't it be beneficial if the media reported TRUTH about ALL?

DP, your way off. No President was ever treated the way the Republicans treated Obama from day one of his first term, and the hate your claim the Democrats have for the Republicans was ignited by the hate the Republicans showed for Democrats. In FACT , that hate from Republicans toward Dems woke up that sleeping giant of voters that vote Dem! So keep drinking your COOL Aid and thinking the Republican party represents America.

One of Republican core beliefs is ...matters will take care of themselves.

Or even during a bad recession, conservatives believe that market will correct itself...in the long term.

It's also true that in the long term, we will all be dead. Thanks, GOP, because of you, we may need see light at the end of the tunnel.

They are still stuck on their goal to make Obama a one term President......wait. Do'h. (smacks forehead).

gee SpankH, you would think that 112th Congress which is made up of a HOR and Senate would be able to get things done but see in your myopic little world you have this preconceived notion that only Repubs are evil and Democrats genuinely care. Thanks for proving my First Post, and Fisty and Pigs, and Smitty. So I see a pattern.

correction of #3.1 -

Thanks, GOP, because of you, we may NEVER see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Eric - yeah, and they're still trying to make that work! LOL!

We can't see the light at the end of the tunnel because the power plants are all being regulated out of existence.

BU**SH**!!

Here in California we are building new power plants all over the place. Nice clean natural gas from Canada. Not Texas!!!

We shut down our last coal fired plant 5 years ago.

Oh yeah. Permits had been let out for 24 power plants here in 2000. After the republicon governator got into power all of those permits were cancelled. And then we got our rolling brownouts. Republicons suck at managing the economy.

I love to hear all of you Republicans and Democrats blame each other for the "gridlock" that exist in congress. This group of idiots on both sides of the isle are responsible for the problems. When you are so brain washed that to believe only your side could be right, then its time for you to go! Let me pass on some sound advice, "get your heads out of your asses and do whats right for the American tax payer"!!! Do your damn job!!!

And with just 11 scheduled voting days left before the House’s target adjournment date for the year

Part-time civil service workers, who do nothing even when they are in session! Big Salaries, Great Benefits.

Stunning!

If Congress Half As— attempt to RULE the country is this bad, just think of how much they would have screwed things up with a Republican President..... I myself am glad they are just PART TIME CLOWNS, that's all this country can handle.....

No Democrats want to raise top marginal rates or the 51% that voted for Obama. The other 49% want to keep rates where they are. Keep it up, we will have the Senate to in 2014.

And then you will have it in 2016, then in 2018.....LOL Heard it in 2010 then again in 2012. And wait, wasn't Romeny suppose to win in a landslide? LMAO

Chris - yes, Democrats will have both the House AND Senate in 2014 - you're correct! No Rhodes Scholar though!

the wealthy job creators had bush tax cuts the last 4 years.....where are the jobs?

somebody is buying yachts and it isn't the 99'ers.

5#3/Is this commentator claiming to be a Rhodes Scholar, or Chris Rhodes,a Scholar? He is no Liberal, neither Democrat nor Republican .

That's such bull. You think spouting the same BS talking points make it so? Raising rates will do nothing and you know it. If you don't know it, you're an idiot. This country needs economic growth. Raising tax rates will stunt growth. Spending is a big part of the problem too.

I'm shocked, shocked! What's wrong with that RepublicanDom?

.

definition: kings have kingdom, republicans have republicanDom.

@ Mark: I sure hope I am reading your comment as sarcasm, otherwise let's just say it takes two to tango there, bud.

I am an optimistic person, but something tells me that the 113th Congress is not going to do any better seeing as how most of the players are the same. Yes, as I said it does take two to tango, but it is no secret that the Republicans were leading this dance. Most of the shame lies on their shoulders but I doubt that there will be any remorse from any of them, nor a reversal of how to do the peoples' business that they were sent there to do.

republiConDom...?? hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahhah

...in case you didn't get it...[from my #6.1 comments]

Spartan117...I think that was said by McConnell back in 2009 so that is pretty old. We are over the fact we lost the election. So we are in the exact position we were in 2010, GOP controlled House, Democratic Senate and President. There is no super majority so you either want to compromise or not. If not, then we are OK with raising of rates for everyone and automatic spending cuts...and the resulting unemployment rate going up over 10%. Obama and Reed's choice.

Chris, technically it would be the Republicans fault. The President said, during his campaign and now, that he will not pass tax cuts for the top 2%. The majority of Americans agreed with, and voted for, him. If Republicans can't understand/comprehend that and continue to hold the middle class tax cuts hostage while trying to get tax cuts for the rich, the American people are going to hold them responsible. The majority of the American people did not vote for the Republican's idea to balance the budget. They voted for the Democrat's idea to balance the budget.

Well Chris I guess your beloved teapublicans should have thought about that BEFORE they voted for the automatic cuts. Oh wait, you guys thought you had it all in that bag didn't you? Anyone seen president-elect Romney lately? LMAO oops.

Chris - have you been LISTENING to McCain and Graham? Clearly the GOP IS NOT OVER President Obama winning - again - and by soooooo much! Get a grip - it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

So if Obama doesn't get his way on the tax rate increases on the top 2% earners, everyone gets to suffer? Negotiation should entail putting everything on the table. That means everyone -- House, Senate, and President -- shouldn't get to say "If I don't get my way, no deal." There is a lot more at stake than pride.

Chris, nobody who's a Rhodes scholar lives in the irrational nonsensical Fox non-reality bubble.

Sorry. Your cover's blown. Oh, and Rodin's spinning in his grave over you using his Thinker statue to spread ignorant right wing talking points. Have a nice day :)

I'm with you, more bills does not automatically mean congress is being effective. Passing laws just for the sake of passing laws, seems about right.

Lets not address the $16 Trillion in Debt....

I think we should go over the "Fiscal Cliff"...at some point the spending needs to be cut back...if not now, when...spending cuts across the board...military, entitlement programs, they should all take an equal percentage cut.

When any of us as individuals is over our heads in debt, we make tough choices...things are cut out that are not necessities...no one wants cuts to "their" programs but eventually something has to give.

I'm disgusted at what we are setting up for our future generations. At this rate they will not know the America we knew.

E. - The sequestration leaves entitlements untouched. It does cut military spending which I think is a good thing. If the government had a balanced budget, the dept still keeps increasing because of past payment obligations. Private credit card dept in somewhere around 14.7 trillion dollars. Thats a lot of "over our heads in dept"

I'm pretty moderate myself, not to say that I can't get fired up and extreme at times, so I can see some good points coming from both sides. I agree with the comments that the number of bills is a bad measure of what is going on with Congress. I also agree that there seems to be more than a little difficulty with the Senate and not just the House. As I said, it is not a matter of quantity, but there obviously has been a problem with quality. Why? Well, we can clearly see that there is a problem with communication. Why can't the two sides talk and find ways to get effective things done? Who cares if a thousand bills get passed if the economy does not improve? How about getting just one bill through, the House, the Senate and the President which actually makes a difference? One thing for sure, name calling and categorizing has not worked in Congress. Whose benefitting in this discussion? After we're done letting off steam, how many of us are going to write their Congress People or Senators? Let them know you're angry! But don't get carried away please, they seem to be pretty sensitive these days, to say the least. If we push from both sides, we CAN make them work. Just one good bill, that's all I'm asking for. Not a thousand page full of spins and spoils. Somethings straightforward and to the point. Maybe I'm not in Kansas anymore, but I will keep dreaming.

You know, there must be a way to tie Congressional pay to actually doing the nations' business. Right now, they just take care of themselves.

History lesson ... the 84th Congress with 1,028 laws passed.

Senate Leader ... Lyndon Johnson D

House Leader ... Sam Rayburn D

Although many Texas legislators were on the payroll of public service corporations, Rayburn refused to do so. As he recounted in a speech during his congressional campaign:

"When I became a member of the law firm of Steger, Thurmond and Rayburn, Messrs. Thurmond and Steger were representing the Santa Fe Railroad Company, receiving pay monthly. When the first check came after I entered the firm, Mr. Thurmond brought to my desk one-third of the amount of the check, explaining what it was for. I said to him that I was a member of the Legislature, representing the people of Fannin County, and that my experience had taught me that men who represent the people should be as far removed as possible from concerns whose interests he was liable to be called on to legislate concerning, and that on that ground I would not accept a dollar of the railroad's money, though I was legally entitled to it. I never did take a dollar of it. I have been guided by the principle in all my dealings."

This practice of refusing to accept fees from clients who had interests before the Legislature was "virtually unheard-of" at the time. Later, while serving in Congress, a wealthy oil man had a very expensive horse delivered to Rayburn's farm in Bonham. No one apparently knew the oil man delivered the horse except him, Rayburn, and a Rayburn staffer. Rayburn returned the horse.

so passing tons of bills = success? or should i say doing more? I guess Quantity over Quality is a progressive measure. BTW im not saying this current congress was good to go. I think the lot of these politicians need to go bye bye. Thats how you hold their feet to the fire.

You know I would only judge by the amount of good bills passed Parker. Quality and quantity in politics are only close in the dictionary.

Perhaps if they'd stop holding press conferences about a nomination that hasn't even happened and get their a$$es to work, people would feel differently.

Michael, it appears to me that this is their way of getting back attention after their losses in November.

McCain is losing it. The entire GOP is losing it. Things just didn't work out for them on Nov. 6th. They just haven't gotten the message yet.

And it all started with their war in Iraq. McCain front and center.

So you're saying they even failed at being the worst??

Kinda funny really.

At at least 1/2 million a try that's a LOT of money they have blown over something they KNEW they were not going to be able to repeal!! Blow money like a drunk monkey then scream deficits. Sheesh!!

How are you calculating the cost of trying to pass the bill? The amount of time spent drafting the bill? Debating it? Voting on it? How many times are you counting the draft portion? I would assume if it passed the first time, it probably wasn't modified. It just languishes in the Senate. By the way, someone above mentioned they spent $50 million trying to repeal ObamaCare. You claim $0.5 million per try -- which at 34 attempts means only $17 million. Who is right? Does anyone truly know?

follow the logic the whole way through-

cost 1/2 million to repeal a bill

33 attempts to repeal obamacare

who does this money go to? so 33 x 1/2 million goes to- printers, secretaries, lobbists (who according to newsprograms - help write everything)...surely not the elected officials getting more money above and beyond the paycheck they are already getting

I smell a scam...

Washington Generals. The ones that always lost to the Globetrotters.

CMCPO - I'm with you! Let's cut all of their salaries, benefits, pensions, everything! We could put a big dent in that deficit!