Congress in January will have a five day work week. Well, sort of.
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.
So it's still really a short work week, about three and a half days, but it does require them to be in Washington by Monday evening. I'll bet that many don't arrive until Tuesday mornings, and I'll further wager that many leave before noon on Fridays. Any takers?
As for the complaints about taking themselves away from their families, consider this. A term in Congress as a representative is 2 years - consider it an enlistment in a branch of the military. A term as a senator is 6 years - consider it an officer's commission. They should be thankful they're in Washington DC and not Iraq.
If they can eliminate cozying up with lobbyists and soliciting of favors, and the pork barrel spending, and the sundry other debaucheries they are often notorious for, quoting Chico Marx, as Fiorello, in A Night At The Opera, "why, then-a you got somethin'."