Why the budget deal is nothing to celebrate

The budget deal passed by Congress in December reduces spending cuts, addresses sexual assault in the military, and prevents a government shutdown for at least two years. President Obama later signed the bill. It’s being presented as a great bipartisan accomplishment that finally ended the stalemate in Washington.
The way the media discusses the deal boggles my mind. It really does come to show just how grid-locked and unproductive Congress has been. Passing a budget is nothing to celebrate. This is the bare minimum Congress can do; it is their job to do so every year. Actually, Congress was even unable to pass a budget on time this year, which caused the whole fiasco of the government shutdown in October. Only when the threat of default loomed, Congress passed a temporary solution that just bought them time and did nothing to solve the issues that needed to be addressed. Close to the end of the new deadline, Congress passed this budget deal that is being glorified by the media but still does not change much. I think instead of being praised as a grand bipartisan success, the deal should be criticized as being too little and too late.
In my view, this Congress is a laughingstock to the rest of the world, and the American people agree. In a recent CNN poll, 70% of Americans said this Congress is the worst in their lifetimes. In 2013, Congress passed only 66 bills, which is the lowest number in over 40 years. Worse yet, just 58 of them were signed into law, and several of them did nothing more than name post offices. Normally 400-500 bills are signed into law each year. All of the major issues that were supposed to be tackled this year, from gun control legislation to immigration reform to tax reform, have either been defeated or not even brought up.
Congress has been futile in other ways. In the Democratically-controlled Senate, legislation for universal background checks, which had over ninety percent of public support, was defeated. Additionally, senate filibusters have blocked 82 of President Obama’s judicial nominees. Half of all filibusters under all presidents occurred under President Obama, leading the Senate to enact the “nuclear option.” And as for the House, instead of doing anything significant or meaningful, it voted to repeal Obamacare 47 times. Immigration reform passed by the Senate was not even brought up in the House.
In American history, there has always been partisanship and disagreement. However, in the past, Democrats and Republicans were able to come together to make deals and pass major legislation benefitting the country. Budgets were not even mentioned; this was just expected. Now even passing a budget deal is a struggle and its passage is apparently a significant achievement. This year there is a midterm election in November and both parties are eyeing control of the House. The question is, will members of Congress come together to show their parties’ willingness to negotiate, or will there be continued partisan brinkmanship? Only time will tell. Let’s hope for a better and more productive 2014.