This year has not been an encouraging one for American politics. The in-fighting in congress seemed to increase in the wake of the 2012 presidential election, and Republican opposition to President Obama is as staunch as ever.

The gridlock in congress this year culminated in House Republicans shutting down the U.S. government in October in protest over the rollout of major Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as Obamacare) provisions. This coincided with the flubbed launch of the Healthcare.org website, and led to American disapproval of congress hitting a record low in November. American approval of congress also hit a new low for the entire year of 2013.

Now it seems that Americans have not just lost faith in congress, but most now consider this particular congress the worst they have ever seen.

A new CNN/ORC International poll released today shows that more than two-thirds of Americans consider the current congress to be the worst in their lifetime.

At issue seems to be the fact that congress can’t get anything meaningful done. The poll shows that 73% of those polled believe this congress has “done nothing to address the country’s problems.”

Though this sentiment is shared among all demographics polled, the solution to the problem is, of course, different depending on political orientation. 52% of those polled say that congressional Democrats would lead the country in “the wrong direction,” while 54% say the same about congressional Republicans. 54% also believe that President Obama’s policies would be bad for America.

With Americans so split about the future of the U.S., it seems only natural that the current congress should reflect that conflict. Though embarrassment over the government shutdown seems to have spurred congress into actually passing a budget, Americans can look forward to a 2014 election year full of more accusations, hyperbole, and gridlock in congress.

Image via Martin Falbisoner/Wikimedia Commons