To make his laziness a partisan issue seems ... foolish.
Most. Pathetic Excuse For Not Working. Ebbar.
- Thread starter Pontiuth Pilate
- Start date
To make his laziness a partisan issue seems ... foolish.
MobBoss
Off-Topic Overlord
Well, to be fair, most of your senators and representatives DO work for you when they are not on captial hill. To my knowledge, a good number of them still retain offices in their home states to address needs and concerns of their electorate.
Why do you assume that if your congressman isnt on capitol hill working 24/7 he/she isnt working for you?
I know for a fact that congress people still address matters from their home state regardless of them being on capitol hill. I have done more than my fair share of answering federal congressional inquiries, all from local state offices, not their offices on the hill. It would be a false assumption to think that every day not on capitol hill is a vacation day for a congressman.
Masquerouge
Deity
While I agree on your general points, I see this thread more as an example on how stupid partisanship can become.
I mean : "Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."
This is stupid and wrong on so many levels.
amadeus
Apply directly to the forehead
Term limits, anybody?
Congressmen arent really obligated to show up at those offices though...they only work with their constituencies inasmuch as they have to to stay in office. If they're in a safe district, they go do other things, and staffers handle the questions back home. In fact, staffers (including legions of unpaid college interns, which will be me pretty soon) do a ton of the things that you might think your congressman actually does.
Two of my old suitemates worked for congressmen in "safe" districts in New Jersey (granted, this is in DC)...and were amazed at a)how little these guys would go to their DC offices to do things, and b) how little work they actually did at home. Lots of working with lobbiests...lots of photo ops, lots of golf. Seriously.
joycem10
Deity
The less legislators work, the happier I am.
I assume my Congressman NEVER works for me. If I can't see him on the floor of the House, I assume he is playing golf with some lobbyist.
This sums it up for me - if they were repealing laws as fast as they were adding new ones, I'd feel differently.
Because my particular congressman is Emmanual Cleaver. He's (shocking given he is a preacher) a con-man who has had issues with back taxes, and I just don't trust the goober.
In general, I actually suspect most of the Congressmen are quite hard working. I'm not quite so cynical as most regarding politicians as a whole, and tend to trust that most of them truly do run for office for the right reasons.
tomsnowman123
Simple Liver
This is why we need to pay elected officials average workers' salaries so that they understand the needs of average people and stop being an elite group of professional politicians with separate class interests.
Erik Mesoy
Core Tester / Intern
What's so bad, really, about Corru Congress not working? I thought we agreed they were all pretty much criminals and should do as little as possible to impede the honest citiziens of the country.
I think we should make them punch in and punch out and pay them the minimum wage. During recesses, they only get paid for time spent in their offices - either in Washington or in their home district.
Princeps
More bombs than God
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The politicians need to paid well so that capable people would be attracted to politics.
tomsnowman123
Simple Liver
They certainly shouldn't be paid if they hardly ever work.
People will always be attracted to politics, they want the power.
Princeps
More bombs than God
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I don't know much about this but I presume, the senators probably work at home and other places than washington.
Capable people would probably rather choose high-paying roles in the business world that some boring senator job with a pathetic wage.
Falcon02
General
Completely agreed, as someone else pointed out, have their families move to the DC area if that's the issue, it's not unprecedented. I'm sure there are senators complaining on both sides. But, just think what Senators and Representatives did BEFORE they had Private Jets to take 'em back home every week.
All in all if there's wok that needs to be done, for the good of the country get it done.
Falcon02
General
True, but they do have to be present to vote (that's their primary job) and most still have low attendance. Also, they need to be present to participate in hearings and boards, again many have poor attendance.
Gladi
The ignored thread killer
Bright day
Does not work. In Czechia no capable person would ever entertain thought of entering government for power, you get that in private sector.
Pontiuth Pilate
Republican Jesus!
Exactly. Who sets the Congressional schedule, MobBoss?
This Congress has worked the fewest days of ANY CONGRESS IN HISTORY. That's an insert-unprintable-word-here accomplishment, MobBoss. You have to work hard to outdo 200 centuries of lazy-ass Congressmen.
You ask:
I answer, that if your question means "Do I believe that this Republican Congress came into office without any clear legislative goals or reason for governing other than keeping the majority out of the hands of Democrats?" then the answer is a resounding HECK YES. And that's why they were tossed out on their rear ends last month.
I saw a recent poll where people were asked to name three things that Congress had done in the last two years. Something like 3/4 of the respondents couldn't name anything. Those that could mentioned the midnight vigil for Terri Schiavo, the bankruptcy bill, extending the PATRIOT Act and not responding to Katrina. If, by 2008, the Democrats have a legislative record like that, I might be rooting for Giuliani.
If your question means, "Do the Republicans lack a governing philosophy and a governing agenda - that is, something they want to do WITH government when they gain it?" then the answer, from the constant talk of Evil Government and Starving the Beast, also appears to be yes.
And, now my turn to ask a question: "Is that why the Republicans lost?" Looks like it. Railing against the evils of government gets you some votes. Accomplishing little or nothing except things people never wanted in the first place (bankruptcy bill, Terri Schiavo), while ignoring huge problems that have been the focus of public outcry (lobbyist corruption, for example) loses you LOTS of votes.
There are only 4 people in the Senate who aren't millionaires. Russ Feingold (my favorite Sen.) is one of them. And he's the only Senator who's turning down the pay raise they're granting themselves starting next year.
I guess you don't care about Iraq, our FUBAR'd healthcare system, our growing economic stratification, the massive corruption in our government, the unchecked executive and the erosion of our Constitution. Congress has been absolutely inactive on ALL of these issues over the past two years, and the American people expect Congress to try to fix the problems within its legislative jurisdiction. Congresses that do nothing get praised by libertarians, then trashed by the electorate.
tomsnowman123
Simple Liver
Maybe some people want the ability to create change or have a real say in the country.
