This year's session, with fiscal cliff negotiations and lively
nomination controversies, is anything but lame. But it's still a
lame-duck Congress. Just how did a meeting of one Congress that
occurs after a new one is elected but not yet sworn-in get that
name? We're slow roasting the answers to those questions and
serving them up by the numbers: What is a 'lame duck'? 18th
Century - The term "lame duck" originates in Great Britain to
describe a bankrupt businessman. 1830s - The term "lame duck"
arrives in the United States, but is used to describe
politicians on their way out of office, rather than businessmen.
85 - The number of current members of Congress who are lame
ducks. 17 weeks - The length of time between November elections
and inauguration on March 4th, prior to the 20th Amendment being
ratified in 1933. This led to many problems, such as President-
elect Abraham Lincoln being unable to deal with the secession of
seven states during the long gap between his election and
inauguration. 2 - The number