( CNN ) -- If the congressional `` super committee '' does not reach a deficit reduction deal by Wednesday 's legally mandated deadline , I propose we take a page from the NBA owners and lock Congress out . I 'm serious . We , the taxpayers , are the owners of Congress and if Congress wo n't make a deal that helps our nation , then let 's put a big padlock on the doors of the House and Senate -- or at least change the locks and not give them the keys . Polls show that me and apparently 91 % of my fellow Americans have never been more frustrated with the dysfunctional nature of `` our '' Congress . Congress ' approval rating has fallen to an abysmal 9 % -- to put this in perspective , herpes is now slightly more popular than Congress . Bed bugs really ca n't be that far behind . I 'm not sure who the 9 % of voters are who think Congress is doing a good job -- I can only assume it 's Congress ' friends and families as well as some of the well-connected lobbyists who have reaped benefits . Maybe the 9 % are those pleased when Congress made history in August after waiting until the last minute to compromise on a budget deal , which led to the first downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by Standard & Poor 's . Or possibly the 9 % were impressed when House Democrats and Republicans joined together in a rare moment of bipartisanship a few weeks ago and voted in favor of a resolution by a whopping 396-9 . Was this vote to create jobs for the more than 25 million Americans who are unemployed or underemployed ? Or maybe this vote was to help Americans on the brink of foreclosure ? Nope , this vote was to address an issue that Congress felt demanded immediate attention : Affirming that our national motto is : `` In God We Trust . '' Wow , that should really put some food on the table of a hungry family whose unemployment benefits are close to expiring . I hope you take the time to `` thank '' Rep. J. Randy Forbes , a Republican from Virginia , for leading the courageous charge on that issue . Instead of a congressional lock out , perhaps Donald Trump could host a new TV show entitled : `` Congressional Apprentice , '' where each week members of Congress are given a task to help our nation . Those who fail will be met by Trump gleefully declaring : `` Congressman ... You 're fired ! '' I 'm at the point that when I hear about a king in a foreign nation dissolving the legislature in his country , I almost wish our president could do the same . Despite all its negatives , Congress can take credit for one positive achievement : Inspiring more Americans to become engaged in politics as witnessed by both the rise of the Occupy movement and the tea party movement . Congress ' failures have awakened both the left and the right of the American electorate . I hope that both the Occupy and tea party groups ( and everyone else in the middle ) can agree on a concrete change to our electoral system , namely : Term limits for Congress . Even though Congress ' approval rating had fallen to 21 % at the time of the November 2010 congressional mid-term elections , the inherent advantages of incumbency for members of Congress are so powerful that still 87 % of incumbents in the House and 90 % in the Senate won re-election . Term limits would mandate a turnover in the composition of Congress so that federal elected officials no longer focus on political concerns and making a career out of serving in Congress but instead on enacting legislation that benefits all Americans in the short time they will serve . Term limits are the only way to ensure meaningful change of our Congress . But that wo n't be easy . To impose congressional term limits , the U.S. Constitution must be amended -- just as it was with the 22nd amendment , which set a term limit for our president . The problem is that absent a constitutional convention , the only way to start the process for a Constitutional amendment is that Congress -- the people with a 9 % approval rating -- have to pass it by a two-thirds vote in each chamber before it can be sent for the required approval by three-fourths of the state legislatures . Good luck getting Congress to agree on that . Our best and most practical hope is asking candidates running for Congress to make a personal pledge to limits of two terms in the Senate and three in the House . Congress , though , still has a chance to atone for its mistakes . It 's like at the end of the holiday classic , `` The Christmas Carol '' when Ebenezer Scrooge awoke on Christmas morning , and after realizing he still had a chance to redeem himself , joyfully declared : `` I have n't missed it. `` Well , Congress , you have almost missed it . While we do n't have three ghosts to warn you , we do have hundreds of millions of Americans sending you a message : Stop the political posturing , make a deficit reduction deal and then work together to revive our nation 's economy . If not , there are numerous locksmiths in the Washington area who promise that they can change locks within 15 minutes . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah .
Congress looks unlikely to reach a deficit reduction deal by deadline . Sheikh Mohammed : Follow NBA owners ' demands and force out members of Congress . The only way to achieve dramatic change is to extend congressional terms , he says . Obeidallah : Stop political posturing , make a deal and revive nation 's economy .