Great…that’s just what we need, Congress getting together more.
I’ll defer to Mencken:
“Suppose two-thirds of the members of the national House of Representatives were dumped into the Washington garbage incinerator tomorrow, what would we lose to offset our gain of their salaries and the salaries of their parasites?”
According to the report I heard the other day, they need to spend two days a week in fundraising endeavors just so they can run in the next election. Something needs to change with regard to that.
Congress managed to waste money quite effectively this past year, and I’m not seeing how a heavier work schedule makes anything worse. Fewer meetings doesn’t save us money, which dumping them in the incinerator would.
Personally, I’d rather that legislators had more time to meet with staff and experts who might advise them on issues, so they might be able to get a better idea of what the implications of their actions will be. If that means less time in session, that’s time well spent. Unfortunately, no-one’s proposing a weekly do-your-homework time minimum.
mischievous
Oh, I get it, the moment someone is elected to congress we should execute them! That way, with them all dead, we would be much better off. 'Cause, well, they are politicians, after all. Which means they are by definition bad and should all be dead. It’s so much clearer now. :dubious:
I can see the congressman’s point. When I was considering my future as an MP, I envisioned six- or seven-day weeks most weeks: four to five days on the Hill in chamber or committee, and two days’ surgery back in my home riding. Happily, Montreal is a two-hour train ride from Ottawa; I’m thinking about how it would be on someone from BC and I shudder.
A lot of people aren’t aware of the work involved in being a half-decent MP, and I presume it’s the same for a U.S. congressperson; between chamber, committee, meeting with citizens, attending public meetings, meeting with citizens’ groups, researching legislation, caucus meetings, and so forth. I do a fraction of this much work just in my political volunteering, between the LGBTT Commission, my riding association, and the provincial section’s executive, and I’m exhausted.
If anything, I’d say extend the sitting year so more business can be dealt with over a shorter week, so that more time could be spent in the constituency.
That might be a good idea in normal times. But right now is different: the GOP has kept a host of popular initiatives from seeing the light of day over the past four years, and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. It won’t hurt the Congress to be full-time legislators for a month or so, pass a bunch of stuff that’s long been written, and send it to Bush to see what he’ll sign and what he’ll veto.
Then in February they can take up the FY07 appropriations bills that the GOP never bothered to finish (the fiscal year began on October 1), which might deserve taking more time with, to go through and fund a zillion little things that the GOP had slated for cuts.
Despite being very happy at the changes made to Congress during the recent elections, i don’t quite share your optimism that a Democratic majority will somehow fix all the problems of the legislative branch.
As Kevin Drum notes, you couldn’t walk two steps in 2001 without hearing about how the outgoing Clintons sabotaged and vandalized everything before they left. Ultimately, it turned out there was no evidence of any of these accusations, no repairs, needed, nothing documented as defaced.
But when an outgoing Republican Congress leave billions and billions of their required budgetary work undone, and EXPLICITLY says that it’s to screw the Democrats… barely a peep about it.
If they had public financing ,they wouldn’t have to spend so much time raising money and promising legislation and votes to those with vested interests. They all bitch about how much time that takes away from their jobs, but won’t stop it because it is their electoral advantage.
Hijack:
Thank you for providing that link. I came across a mention of an MP doing surgery in a British detective novel last night, and I was wondering why on earth a politician would be allowed to operate on people.