Poll: Americans Say 113th Congress is Worst Ever

An overwhelming majority of Americans say the 113th Congress is the worst in their lifetime, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Thursday.

While nearly three quarters of the respondents said this has been a "do-nothing" Congress, two thirds of those surveyed said the current Congress is the worst in their lifetime, with 28 percent disagreeing.

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"That sentiment exists among all demographic and political subgroups. Men, women, rich, poor, young old — all think this year's Congress has been the worst they can remember," Keating Holland, CNN polling director, said.

"Older Americans — who have lived through more congresses — hold more negative views of the 113th Congress than younger Americans. Republicans, Democrats and independents also agree that this has been the worst session of Congress in their lifetimes."

The telephone poll of 1,035 adults nationwide showed that 73 percent say Congress has done nothing to solve the country's problems, with roughly 25 percent disagreeing.

Indeed, less than 60 bills have been passed and signed into law during the past year, according to CNN, and there is not much optimism that next year will be much better.

Fifty-two percent believe the policies of Democratic leaders in Congress would move the country in the wrong direction, and 54 percent think the policies of the Republican leaders would do the same, the survey found. The poll, conducted Dec. 16-19, had a sampling error of plus or minus three percent.

One of the first tests of where Congress is headed in 2014 will be the fight over the debt ceiling, and analysts are somewhat divided about the prospects, reports The Washington Times.

"I don't think there's any political reason why they'll fight over this, at least not to the degree that they have in the past," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said Wednesday on CNN.

But others maintain that could still be gridlock, despite the bipartisan budget deal reached earlier this month.

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"I believe we very quickly began to move away from 'Kumbaya' a couple weeks ago," Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, said Tuesday on MSNBC.

"I'm afraid we're not going to see a lot [of cooperation], but we'll see some," he added.

Related stories:

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• Ryan-Murray Budget Deal: 'Bad Deal, Dishonest'