  Americans are increasingly doubtful that Congress is a
functional institution. The 112th Congress, which is the last
fully completed Congress, was the least productive in history.
The 113th is currently on track to beat that. Congressional
productivity is measured based on the number of bills passed in
a session. This Congress is simply unable to function.  Extreme
and excessive partisanship in Washington is preventing not only
beneficial legislation from getting passed, but really any
legislation at all. Instead of focusing on the needs of the
nation, America’s representatives are struggling with getting
basic legislation with years of precedent passed. For example,
this summer’s Farm Bill eventually passed after initially being
shot down, but the passed form consisted of 20 percent of the
funding of the original bill. America’s legislators were not
particularly good at budgeting, but rather they refused to
include Food Stamp funding in a bill that is and has been
primarily focused on Food Stamp funding fo