Is Congress dysfunctional by design?

No. It's worked for every other Congress. He's a week leader who has no balls. that's why it isn't working.

Yes

It's not dysfunctional by design. It's dysfunctional because the Republicans want it to be. They said from the start of Obama's Presidency that they wanted him to fail. They know if a President fails the country has to fail with him. So they were literally saying they wanted the country to fail so they could get the White House back. And then of course, they would make the country fail some more to prove government does not work. Why does America keep hiring people (Republicans) to do the job, when those people (Republicans) say the job can't be done?

There was considerable discussion after the 2010 elections about whether Boehner would be intellectually up to the task. He's answered that for us. Peter Principle.
Beyond that there's the subtle, evidently GOP "Think Tank Approved" talking point consistently undermining our government. In the virtual absence of Congress any criticism of present governance become de facto criticism of Obama. But they go further: parsing Constitutional rights to suggest that certain population segments just aren't covered, attempting to reads the minds of the founding fathers to show that what they meant was somehow something else, proposing the elimination of entire agencies claimed to be ineffective or unnecessary, or just getting rid of those troublesome federal judges. It goes on. Perhaps if I was a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate capitalists who only want government to write contracts to them drawn on tax payer money, I might try to undermine the "people" parts of government too.
They call it "The People's House", Mr Speaker.

No, but Congress has been polluted and corrupted by all the big money in politics. Congress is guilty of insider trading ( trading votes for money, planning their next big job before they leave office, and failing to uphold the notion of public service.) I don't think they know what the word means.

There is no incentive for congressional representatives to make the system work.

Say for instance I am a congressman and I vote for a particular piece of legislation that would benefit my district and it gets voted down. I go back to my district at election time and espouse the evil of the contending party, promising to get the legislation passed if I am re-elected. On the other hand, if I vote for a piece of legislation which is passed I can go back to my constituents and sell them the, "I get things done unlike my opposition". All the while I can take money from the lobbyists on either side of the issue. If big oil is paying better than coal, I vote with oil.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-december-13-2011/lawrence-lessig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7fBwc803CI&t=1m45s

I do not believe it was designed to be screwed-up. I believe politicians have taken it and destroyed it so it no longer works for the people but works just fine for the politicians

"The "balance of powers" principle really IS another way to phrase "disempower" [ the teeming unwashed masses - peasant folk and such ]

So YES. NO action is better for the power elites than ANY true progressive democratic action.

DIG IT - - -they DONY like "Yes We Can",.....AT ALL.

I'm so glad John Boehner wasn't around on Dec 8, 1941 ! He would have insisted upon spending cuts for services to the poor before declaring war on the Axis Powers.

Yes

The idea is absurd. The House makes up half of what is the most important part of our government. It was not meant to do nothing, nor would any reasonable person think that. It is supposed to speak up for the more than 300 million Americans that they collectively represent and pass laws and promote policy that make everyone better off. Gridlock, obstructionism, and endless filibustering is about as far from the design of the House as you can get.

If you see his full comment, he's saying "Well we have so many different people from all around the country, so why would you even expect us to get along?" This, of course, is completely disingenuous. It's not that the person from Virginia is refusing to work with the person from New York. It's the person with an R after their name disagreeing with the person with a D after. People from around the country are completely capable of agreeing with each other, as was intended. They just have no incentive to because of partisan politic that Boehner loves so much.

But I guess it's just more convenient to blame someone else for the temper tantrum he and his buddies have been throwing for the past three years after we had the audacity to vote a democrat into the presidency.

I think it is true because Boehner, and a good majority of the conservatives in congress make sure it does not work. It is becoming a classic conservative tactic, claim something does not work and prove it by preventing it from actually working.