Do as you say.

A Pew Research Survey indicates that 74 percent of registered voters say most members of Congress should not be re-elected in 2014. That is certainly consistent with surveys that show the approval rating of Congress to be around 5 percent, and it’s hard to argue with.

But I have a question for those of you who are among the 74 percent that says you want the bums out: Why do you keep sending them back?

In the last election cycle, 88 percent of incumbents who sought re-election won. How is that possible if 74 percent of Americans think the incumbents should not be re-elected?

It sounds to me like incumbents are pretty confident Americans don’t mean what they say in these surveys, because their behavior indicates they have no fear whatsoever of the voters. Folks rail against the idea of incumbents, but they keep sending their guy back.

Maybe you could think about this: How would Washington be different if that 74 percent actually did what it says it wants to do? Would we continue to have political smackdowns in which the party inflicting economic stagnation on the country wins all the political spoils, and fears no reprisals from it?

I guess we'll never know if you folks keep telling survey-takers one thing but doing the opposite.