>> well, i think that don pedro was the key. those are fairly specific. this is so challenging to know what the agenda is going to be. there is a backlog of routine matters that are not being processed by the congress right now. every now and then, you get a little window. then you can get some of this stuff done. but for the most part, the system is dysfunctional. it has always been dysfunctional to some degree in my 30 years there, but the degree to which the cases have become dysfunctional, and the cases themselves, to a certain extent. just stopping the most basic and routine functions. it is hard to know the way out. one of the great ironies is that 40% described themselves as independent. in last year's off-year elections, 18% were in the pet -- 18% voted for democrats. in the other year, it was 18% for the republicans. the result of that is that they see people in congress that are most like them. they hired out a moderate and independent thinking members of congress. as long as we are as heavily populated by the extremes, it will continue to be a