You may recall that the 110th Congress was reviled by the right wing as a ‘Do-Nothing’ Congress for its supposed inactivity. As of November 7, 2007 the first session of the 110th Congress had met for 149 legislative days. But the 111th Congress is less active so far than the 110th, meeting as of November 7, 2009 for just 142 legislative days. Will papers such as the Wall Street Journal refer to the 111th as a ‘Do Nothing Congress’?

To put the activity of two congresses in context, as of November 7, 2005 the Republican-controlled 109th Congress had met for just 120 legislative days… and it remained entirely out of session from November 5, 2005 until January 3, 2006.