Even The 'Do-Nothing' Congress Was More Productive Than The Current One (Official Stats)

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Nancy Pelosi ?@NancyPelosi

We’ve produced a report documenting some key facts about this Do-Nothing Congress. Pls share. http://1.usa.gov/Ul9MHj #donothingGOP


THE DO-NOTHING GOP
Why The GOP-Led House Isn’t Working

The current 112th Congress has failed -- it refuses to compromise, it wastes time, and it doesn’t get important work done. In recent months, it barely even meets. This is a stark contrast from the previous Democratic-led Congress. American Enterprise Institute scholar Norm Ornstein assessed, “The accomplishments of the 111th Congress rivaled those of the Great Society Congress of Lyndon Johnson’s era.” Below are some key facts about the 112th Do-Nothing Congress.

UNPRODUCTIVE

This Congress will be the least productive in modern history. (Roll Call, 9/13/12)

Even the 80th Congress, which President Harry Truman called the "do-nothing Congress" in 1948, was more productive that the current one. (USA Today, 8/16/12)

The second week of September 2012 was the first 5-day voting work week for the House in the 112th Congress. (Congressional Record)

With the House recessing on 9/21, this is the earliest Congress has left to campaign in an election year in 52 years – since 1960. (Office of the Clerk)

INEFFECTIVE

One Republican Congressman said the GOP deserved more blame for the dysfunction in Congress. “I would say that the friends I have in the Democratic Party I find...much more congenial — a little less anger,” he said. (Syracuse Post-Standard, 7/30/12)

Independent experts agree that Republicans are the source of congressional dysfunction. “In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.” (Mann and Ornstein, Washington Post, 4/27/12)

Approximately 30 percent of the bills Congress did pass were for the purpose of attaching someone’s name to a government office building. (Fiscal Times, 8/15/12)

UNPOPULAR

One GOP Congressman acknowledged, “The American people are not giving us a very high approval rating because they are tired of us not being able to get anything done.” (Bloomberg, 7/16/12)

The GOP-led 112th Congress has achieved the lowest approval rating ever. (Huffington Post, 8/14/ 12)

FECKLESS

Republicans wasted time by voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act 33 times. (ABC, 7/11/12)

The GOP-led House introduced more than 60 bills to rename post offices, but has taken no action to save the U.S. Postal Service from the risk of losing thousands of jobs. (ABC, 8/1/12)

Halfway through 2012, the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor declared that “serious legislating is all but done until after the election.” [Politico, 7/6/12)

BITTERLY PARTISAN

It is the most polarized Congress ever, primarily because Republicans have grown more partisan.
(ThinkProgress, 2/29/12)

One retiring GOP Congressman bemoaned that “words like compromise have been like dirty words.” (Cleveland Plain-Dealer, 7/31/12)

BAD FOR ECONOMY

The GOP-led House was the first Congress ever to bring the nation to the brink of default, causing the first downgrade of the nation’s credit rating in history. (Washington Post, 7/13/12)

The House GOP claimed to pass “more than 30 jobs bills” that are sitting in the Senate. “But there's a problem with their jobs bills: They don't create jobs.” They were passed as message bills, rather than job-creation legislation. (Huffington Post, 7/24/12; Politico, 6/1/12)

The Senate passed a farm bill with strong bipartisan support in June 2012, but the House GOP hasn’t scheduled a vote. One GOP Congresswoman said of her party leadership’s failure, “That has been a big disappointment for me." (CNN, 9/13/12)

BAD FOR WOMEN

House GOP voted so often to restrict women’s freedoms that one female Republican lawmaker complained, “Are you kidding me? How many times are we going to vote on this?” (Roll Call, 7/31/12)

Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women’s Act was passed with strong bipartisan support out of the Senate in April 2012. House GOP missed the opportunity to take up the bill, pass it, and get it to the President’s desk. The GOP has now created gridlock on this critical legislation. (Politico,9/13/12)