October 07, 2009
Silly Taxpayer: 40-Hour Work Weeks are for the Little People
Remember when Congress promised to work four or five days a week when the Dems took over in 2006? They were going to really work hard and earn their pay from us. Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same:
Like most Americans, members of the House are expected to report promptly — no excuses — when summoned by their bosses for the start of another workweek. One difference: For lawmakers, starting time doesn’t come until about 6:30 Tuesday evening.
After taking control of the House in 2006 — and again when President Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 — Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) boasted that lawmakers would work four or five days a week to bring change to America.
But midway through Obama’s first year in office, Hoyer’s House has settled into a more leisurely routine. Members usually arrive for the first vote of the week as the sun sets on Tuesdays, and they’re usually headed back home before it goes down again on Thursdays.
Since the House returned for its fall session on Sept. 8, it has stuck around to vote on a Friday just once: to approve a 5.8 percent increase in Congress’s own budget.
Read more here.
An aide defended the schedule by claiming it's silly to keep representatives in Washington for four or five days if they can get the work done in a shorter amount of time.
Ah, I see - the House is efficient! So efficient that they've all had time to read the enormous health care "reform" bill we've heard so much about, right?
That's what I thought.
Of course, on the bright side, the less time they spend in Washington, the less time they have to screw things up. See? There's always a silver lining.
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