do-nothing congress

There's more to Election 2012 than a neck-and-neck presidential race: the U.S. Congress.

The 112th Congress is up for its biennial performance review, and by all accounts -including its own - it has done a terrible job.

A damning record of failure and incompetence makes it clear why America should fire Congress next week.

"Worst ever? In the modern era, there's not even much room for debate," said USAToday in a recent editorial.

"With power split between the Republican-controlled House and Democrat-led Senate, lawmakers made no discernible progress on major national problems such as exploding entitlement costs, immigration and climate change," USAToday continued. "Not only that, they ran from what in prior years would have been routine legislation."

Polls show that Americans have been more dissatisfied than ever with their "do-nothing Congress."

Gallup's approval rating for Congress, measured monthly, fell to an all-time low of 10% in February, rose into the teens over the spring and early summer before hitting 10% again in August.

Each May Rasmussen Reports conducts a poll that specifically asks people whether they would vote "to get rid of the entire Congress and start over again" if such a thing were possible, or to keep the entire Congress.

This year 68% said they would vote to dismiss the entire group of lawmakers, up from 62% in 2011 and 57% in 2009. Just 12% of those polled said they'd keep this Congress, and 20% were undecided.

Election 2012: Do-Nothing Congress Has No Excuses

Many members of Congress admit they have done a poor job, though they tend to blame the opposing party rather than take responsibility.

"We have spent virtually the entire year avoiding doing serious business because the majority doesn't want to take any difficult votes," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, said last month. "It is really quite embarrassing that the Senate is so dysfunctional."

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats blame the Republican House.

"The Senate has produced bipartisan bills on issues from farm policy to postal reform to China currency," Brian Fallon, a spokesman for the Senate Democratic leadership told The New York Times. "But it takes two chambers to pass a law, and the other side of the building considers compromise a dirty word."

Both sides point fingers, but bipartisan cooperation is part of their job description. And their bosses - you and me - expect results, not excuses and fingerpointing.

"Most people just don't understand why Democrats and Republicans can't get together and split at least some of their differences," Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics told Reuters.

Why to Fire Congress

So what exactly does a do-nothing Congress look like?