Citation du Jour

"Keeping us up here eats away at families…The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

-- Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), in the Washington Post, whining about incoming-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-MD) plan to make lawmakers work the same work week that everybody else does.

Every Republican sited in the article bitches and moans about having to work. The article sites two Democrats other than Steny Hoyer - one laments the change, the other calls it "long over due."

I don't know what that says more about our party, the new Republican Minority, or the fact that Lyndsey Layton, the Washington Post report who wrote the story will now have to cover the congressional beat 5 days a week.

I some ways, I sympathize with the Representatives. Being a Senator or Congressperson is all about being in Washington. It's important for members of congress to be visible in their own communities, not just for election purposes. It's important that they be available to talk to constituents, see the effects of the laws they pass in their own communities, and see the issues that their constituents face.

Then I remember that I work 50 hours a week and 'Tuesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon' is, at most, 14 hours.

So fuck 'em.

Steny Hoyer