Happy Saint Nicholas Day

And what did the new Democratic leadership get for the members of the House to celebrate?

According to Lyndsey Layton of The Washington Post: 5-day work week is a Capitol Hill culture shock – “Democrats seek a businesslike image; many in GOP decry effect on families”

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.

[Snip]

“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.”

These clowns will have only worked a total 103 days in 2006. They didn’t pass the spending bills that were due on October 1^st. They will receive $165,200 in salary and more in expenses and benefits, including their “commuting costs” back to their districts.

I wonder if Rep. Kingston has spent any time “caring” about the families affected by the multiple disasters that he and other members of Congress have allowed the executive to involve the country in without any significant oversight? What does he think the effect of the Iraq War is on the families of the National Guard, Reserves, and regular soldiers who have been deployed multiple times? What about the families affected by hurricane Katrina?

Congress in located in Washington, DC. Someone should have told the Congressman before he ran for office. If working a five-day is too tough for him, unlike the members of the military, he can quit.

We have a huge budget deficit, so it is time for the government to “tighten its belt”, and these “commuting costs” is a good place to start. Two round-trips a year is good enough for soldiers deployed to Iraq, so that should be sufficient for Congressmen.