Democrats hate the American family

Because they are proposing that members of Congress work five days a week this legislative session.

Culture Shock on Capitol Hill: House to Work 5 Days a Week

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 6, 2006; Page A01

Forget the minimum wage. Or outsourcing jobs overseas. The labor issue most on the minds of members of Congress yesterday was their own: They will have to work five days a week starting in January.

The horror.

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."

The reporters groaned. "I know, it's awful, isn't it?" Hoyer empathized.

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.

With the new calendar, the Democrats are trying to project a businesslike image when they take control of Congress in January. House and Senate Democratic leaders have announced an ambitious agenda for their first 100 hours and say they are adamant about scoring legislative victories they can trumpet in the 2008 campaigns.

Hoyer and other Democratic leaders say they are trying to repair the image of Congress, which was so anemic this year it could not meet a basic duty: to approve spending bills that fund government. By the time the gavel comes down on the 109th Congress on Friday, members will have worked a total of 103 days. That's seven days fewer than the infamous "Do-Nothing Congress" of 1948.

Hoyer said members can bid farewell to extended holidays, the kind that awarded them six weekdays to relax around Memorial Day, when most Americans get a single day off. He didn't mention the month-long August recess, the two-week April recess or the weeks off in February, March and July.

He said members need to spend more time in the Capitol to pass laws and oversee federal agencies. "We are going to meet sufficient times, so the committees can do their jobs on behalf of the American people," he said.

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." ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/05/AR2006120501342.html

 

Imagine, having to be at work during the week.

And what this will "eat away at" will be fundraising time, but as long as they all have to be there, what's wrong with that?

 

Representatives make six figures a year to work full-time, not part-time. When they're in Washington, they need to be in Washington. Also, it's not like they don't get extended breaks and recesses during the year.

Rep. Kingston if you want to be with your family so much, I'd suggest you find a job back in Georgia.

 

There's a great retort on TPM from a soldier, asking about the stress on marriages where one or both members has been deployed multiple times.

 

I imagine most Americans' response to the bitching about a longer work week will be "Cry me a freaking river". What are these guys making now, anyway? $130,000ish?

 

$165,200 for the rank and file.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm

 

Cut that in half because they have to maintain two households, and that's still a damn good living.

 

I'm sure it's somewhat of a burden having to have a residence in DC -- that can be costly -- if you're a common man Representative. But the Rep. I used to cover had a colleague as a roomate to keep costs down. I'd imagine there are quite a few that do that.

Of course, there are also plenty of millionaires in Congress. They can easily afford to have places in DC and back home.

 

Denny Hastert roomed with his chief of staff (the one who never mentioned the whole Mark Foley thing to him.)

 

There's a reason these guys raise literally millions of dollars to campaign for a $165,000/year job, and it isn't philanthropic.

And that quote from Kingston is just disgusting. It's amazing what we put up with with our elected leaders.

 

If I were Kingston's chief of staff, I'd beat his ass with a gavel for being stupid.