The ‘less-than-do-nothing’ Tea-Publican 112th Congress: Worst. Congress. Ever.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Let's say you run a business and you need to hire someone to run your business. The guy who interviews for the job says he hates your business and promises to run your business into the ground and into bankruptcy if you will hire him. Do you hire him? Of course not!

Yet every two years, voters do. We have one political party that hates government, and wants to destroy government, and has no interest in governance. "Government doesn't work, and if you hire me, I'll prove it to you." This is not a bug but a feature for Tea-Publicans. It makes absolutely no sense for voters to hire Tea-Publicans to run the business of government. It is a prescription for failure.

But voters did, and the results are in. The "less-than-do-nothing" Tea-Publican 112th Congress is the Worst. Congress. Ever. Congressional session may be one of worst ever, observers say:

Now that the payroll-tax-break debacle has been resolved (for two months, anyway), it's time to ponder: Was the first session of the 112th Congress the worst ever?

The verdict from voters, political scientists and lawmakers themselves: It's a strong contender, if not the winner.

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It may go down as one of the most dysfunctional sessions, said Sarah Binder, a scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and author of "Stalemate: Causes and Consequences of Legislative Gridlock."

After two years of Democratic control over both chambers of Congress and the White House, Republicans gained majority in the House this year. The modern-era benchmark for gridlock is pretty high – or low, depending on your view. The 102nd Congress under President George H.W. Bush, according to Binder's analysis, left 65 percent of its policy agenda unfinished. The 103rd under President Bill Clinton wasn't much better.

Other congressional experts say the first half of the 112th Congress was remarkable as much for its belligerent tone as for its lack of productivity.

Burdett "Bird" Loomis, a political-science professor at the University of Kansas, said . . . this year's tea-party-driven House "has been aggressively negative and destructive. And the so-called compromises have been reactions to hostage-taking, not well-considered give and take."

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Experts say divided control of government, policy differences between the House and Senate, a polarized electorate and the 2012 presidential election all have exacerbated Congress' natural tendency to disagree.

Even veteran lawmakers say they've never seen anything quite like this year's spectacle.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., who was elected to the House in 1988, doesn't believe this was the worst Congress. "But it's certainly the worst one I remember participating in," he said.

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., pinned the gridlock on "totally unrealistic" House tea-party members who reflexively are opposed to any Democratic proposals. "They have no agenda for job creation," Dicks said.

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Some voters say they're fed up with both parties.

"I truly believe that this may be the worst and most disingenuous Congress in history," said Matt Beattie, a sales executive from Sammamish, Wash.

Mr. Beattie's problem, like the media villagers and Beltway bloviators, is that he paints too broadly with a broad brush, blaming Congress in the generic sense. There is only one political party that hates government, and wants to destroy government, and has no interest in governance. Tea-Publicans have specifically said their only goal is to obstruct everything the president and Democrats in Congress propose.

The reason the 112th Congress is the "less-than-do-nothing" Congress is because of Tea-Publican insurrectionists who have declared war against the American people and who are holding the Congress hostage to their extreme radical agenda.

If you want government to be responsive to the needs of the American people and you want your business of government ("WE The People" — you are the government) to operate effectively and efficiently, you first have to fire these employees who said they hate your business and promised to run your business into the ground and into bankruptcy. It's a sound business decision.