'The most useless Congress in modern times'

Petty, rotten and corrupt to the end. You at least have to admire their consistency.

The 109th Congress stumbled toward an angry close early Saturday as the Republican majority used its last hours of power to try to enact broad tax and trade legislation while Democrats accused Republicans of saddling them with a fiscal mess to clean up when they take control next month.

With minutes to spare before a midnight deadline on Friday, Congress approved a stop-gap measure to keep money flowing to federal agencies at current or reduced levels through Feb. 15, because this Congress has not passed regular annual spending bills.

The failure to dispose of the most basic Congressional work sparked recriminations over who was to blame as leaders of the House Appropriations Committee lashed out at the Senate. Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, the senior Democrat on the spending panel, called the temporary financing “a blatant admission of abject failure by the most useless Congress in modern times.”

As a result of the spending impasse, Democrats will be forced to deal with the leftover money issues as soon as the new Congress convenes in January.

“It is not just that they turned out the lights — they took the light bulb,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, who will join the Democratic leadership in the next Congress.

Member of the 109th Congress, this is your legacy. This is why.

Good riddance.