Top Nine Reasons Congress is Broken

"Congress, hovering at barely 10 percent approval in national polls, is empirically gridlocked: More than halfway through its term, the 112th Congress has approved just 106 bills, versus 906 in the actual "Do Nothing Congress" of 1947-48 – and is filled with such rancor that moderates such as Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine are fleeing the place.

Nearly three dozen D.C. insiders recently gathered at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to discuss why. These include the former Senate parliamentarian, former members of Congress, and longtime Hill staffers. From that conversation comes this list of the nine toughest problems facing Congress today." - David Grant, The Christian Science Monitor

1. Insufficient presidential leadership
2. Republicans at fault, especially those newcomers
3. Too few with institutional knowledge
4. More fundraising, more problems
5. Hyperactive news media
6. The filibuster
7. You get the Congress you vote for
8. Interest groups rule, political parties drool
9. Congress is back to the future

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Republicans Have Made It Harder to Vote - Easier To Buy Guns

"Around 10 states have made it prohibitively difficult for as many as five million Americans without adequate financial means to vote through an array of restrictive Voter ID laws that force citizens to attain a government issued photo identification card, often with a fee attached along with whatever financial losses are incurred due to missed work and the cost of transportation to and from the government office." - source: Huff Post Blog