Congress Will Work 5 Days
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics…instead of 4. Good.
From Wash Post:
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who will become House majority leader and is writing the schedule for the next Congress, said members should expect longer hours than the brief week they have grown accustomed to.“I have bad news for you,” Hoyer told reporters. “Those trips you had planned in January, forget ‘em. We will be working almost every day in January, starting with the 4th.” [...]
For lawmakers, it is awful, compared with what they have come to expect. For much of this election year, the legislative week started late Tuesday and ended by Thursday afternoon — and that was during the relatively few weeks the House wasn’t in recess.
Next year, members of the House will be expected in the Capitol for votes each week by 6:30 p.m. Monday and will finish their business about 2 p.m. Friday, Hoyer said.
That certainly seems like 4.5 days to me. Much less than the average worker in America. And that’s not to mention the extended vacations they get, and the perks.
Still, at least one member has a legitimate concern…
For lawmakers within a reasonable commute of Washington, longer weeks are not a burden — although they are likely to cut into members’ fundraising and campaigning activities. But for members from Alaska and Hawaii, the West Coast, or rural states, the new schedule will mean less time at home and more stress.“Keeping us up here eats away at families,” said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. “Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families — that’s what this says.”
Time away from Washington is just as important to being an effective member of Congress as time spent in the Capitol, Kingston added. “When I’m here, people call me Mr. Congressman. When I’m home, people call me ‘Jack, you stupid SOB, why did you vote that way?’ It keeps me grounded.”
Again…I think it’s good. And a smart step by the Dems.
“Hard” work will be good for the new Congress.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 6th, 2006 and is filed under General Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 7th, 2006 at 7:46 am
[Quote]“Keeping us up here eats away at families,� said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. “Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families � that’s what this says.�[/Quote]
HA! Yep, because they make you work, they’re bad for families. I LOVE IT.
Use that statement the next time your boss asks you to do overtime. Hell, just show up for work for 30 hrs a week then make that statement when they complain.
And that’s a Rep in Georgia – a 90 minute plane ride at most.
On this logic, let’s pull for a 4 day work week and 3 weeks vacation for all.
December 7th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
Justin; Thanks for this post. When I saw it I couldn’t wait to comment. I heard this Repub. quote on Fox yesterday n almost fell off my chair. Unbelievable audacity, to turn everything that you disagree wth into a polital attack against your opponent, and to think these are the people we’re hoping will get together to turn this thing around !
My wife is presently commuting 2000 miles each week for her job. We have a 10 yr old who, for the last 2 weeks has to IAM his mother to get to spend ‘quality’ time wth her, a H.S. senior who just got her driving liscense, and another son who’s a H.S. junior who also needs his mom around much more.
So what the hell are you complaining about, Mr. Kingston? You can’t be home more with your family and you blame the Dems? What have you and your GOP buddies done to help the millions of families you work for–nothing meaningful. What have you done to hurt ? the list won’t fit here. You make me sick. But thanks for summing up in one short quote what’s wrong with the GOP, and therefore the country. Hopefully we’ll be seeing the posters any day now.
December 7th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
Not that I am an apologist for lazy congressmen and women, but to be fair, being away from Washington D.C. does not mean a representative or senator is NOT working.
I’ve known a number of congresspeople in my life, some good, some bad, and being at home in the district is not a vacation day.
Now, some a few of these folks worked Tuesday through Thursday, stayed in Washington the rest of the time WITH THEIR FAMILIES, and only cared about their district during election time.
However, let’s not paint all elected representatives that way.
And while I am all for these folks working and earning their considerable pay and benefits, and I hate the kind of idiocy spewing from Kingston’s mouth, sitting in Washington DC for the sake of looking busy doesn’t do anyone any good.
December 7th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Perhaps one of these days they’ll allow Congressmembers to attend via video linkup…nah, that’d be too easy.
December 7th, 2006 at 8:19 pm
Gerry; I get your point about the work they do at home, that’s not the part of this story that bothered me. It’s this attitude he has that you could stomp on anybody or dismiss anything that you don’t wanna do simply by using the ‘L’ word (liberal SOB, I mean). And besides, the congressman’s quote was so egregious just because of how obviously wrong it was. It’s right up there with “Nonney, nonney, ya little stinky poop head, I ain’t workin no matter what you say” I mean, what’s this guy in 3rd grade?
I know I shouldn’t blame everyone in the GOP for the bad things one congressman from Georgia says, but isn’t everyone just plain sick n tired of this B.S. ?
December 9th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Uh, and how about a correction in the math. 6:30 PM Monday to 2 PM Friday looks like about 3.5 days to me. Earth to GOP creep Kingston: we ALL have to give up family time for work. Don’t like it? Quit your job. PLEASE !!!
December 9th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
The less time they are there, the less money they can spend. I say send them home.
December 13th, 2006 at 9:45 am
Hello,
Just wanted to let you know I linked to your blog in my column on CBSNews.com today. Thanks!
If you want to take a look, here’s the link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/11/blogophile/main2249155.shtml
Thanks,
Melissa