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Unpopular and, so far, unproductive: With Congress on its July 4 recess, marking the completion of its work for the first half of this year, here's a little reality check: Measuring it based on polling and number of bills passed, the 113th Congress (2013-2014) is on track to be as unpopular and unproductive as the previous 112th (2011-2012). Maybe even more so. After the last Congress saw its approval ratings drop to their lowest levels, a June Gallup survey found that just 10 percent of Americans have confidence in the institution. That’s the lowest percentage Gallup ever measured for Congress on this question -- or, for that matter, any other American institution, including the presidency, big business, the medical profession and public schools. When it comes to productivity, only 15 legislative items have become law under the current Congress. That’s fewer than the 23 items that became law at this same point in the 112th Congress, which passed a historically low number of bills that were signed into law. These numbers might not be surprising given the legislative stalemates so far this year -- on the sequester, the farm bill, and student loans.

Four reasons to explain the congressional gridlock: A variety of factors help explain this gridlock. For one thing, ideological polarization remains at an all-time high. Due to the gerrymandering and concentration of congressional districts, the government is divided (even though President Obama won the 2012 popular vote by four percentage points, he carried just 209 out of 435 congressional districts, while Romney carried 226). Given this divided government, congressional Republicans see it as their duty to stop much of the Democratic Party’s agenda. “Welcome to divided government,” a spokesman to House Speaker John Boehner told First Read. “A big part of our job has been to stop bad things from happening.” http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/01/19232708-first-thoughts-
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McConnell To Reid: If You Go Nuclear On Nominations, I’ll Go Nuclear On Everything When I’m Majority Leader

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday starkly warned Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) not to eliminate the filibuster on presidential nominations, threatening to end the 60-vote threshold for everything, including bills, if he becomes the majority leader.

The minority leader sketched out what a Republican-led Senate would do with 51 votes. Job No. 1, he said, would be to repeal Obamacare. He also mentioned lifting the ban on oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, approving the Keystone XL pipeline and repealing the estate tax.

“These are the kinds of priorities that our members feel strongly about, and I think I would be hard pressed,” McConnell said, “to argue that we should restrain ourselves from taking full advantage of this new Senate.”

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