Congressional Dems Brandishing Twin Guns of Ineffectiveness and Laziness

One of the most silvery linings to Congress being overtaken by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid has turned out to be the remarkable inefficacy of the new majority.  With half of the toxic "Six in 06" platform remaining unenacted a couple hundred days after the end of the first 100 hours, the country's faring a lot better than she might be, had the Most Honest, Most Open, Most Ethical Congress^TM turned out to be a little more productive.

And there's more good news for fans of Congressional inaction.

10 months into his stint in the captain's chair, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer propounds the happy news that 2008 will feature 50% more Congress-free days.

Explaining that decision to reporters, Mr. Hoyer said, “I do intend to have more time for members to work in their districts and to be close to their families.”

His comments drew snickers from Republicans, who are quite happy to share their view that the American people did not get much value for all the extra time lawmakers spent in Washington.

“Is this a reward for our accomplishments in 2007?” asked Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the Republican whip.

To Blunt's point, it turns out there are occasional actual duties that Congress needs to discharge.  And even with 5 days to work with, they can't always be bothered to raise their hands and be counted.

[O]n Friday, President Bush once again hammered Congressional Democrats, accusing them of failing to meet basic responsibilities like approving annual budget bills and confirming his nominee for attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey.

“This is not what Congressional leaders promised when they took control of Congress earlier this year,” Mr. Bush said. “Congress needs to keep their promise, to stop wasting time, and get essential work done on behalf of the American people.”

It's not really fair, of course, to suggest Congress "wastes time" rather than doing meaningful work.  Let's not discount the fact that just last month, nearly 42 Senators took the time to symbolically chide a private citizen for expressing an opinion they knew he didn't hold and had never voiced.  In so doing, they raised more than $4 million for a wonderful charity, money that never would have gone to such a worthy cause had those Senators not squandered the people's time in such remarkable fashion.

While Congress did also advance a measure condemning a newspaper ad taken out by an advocacy group, it's worth noting that that resolution not only passed both houses, but it concerned a group that provides significant financial support toward members of Congress, and the sentiment being condemned was one that group in question actually held.  The frivolity factor was therefore much lower and didn't inspire the kind of unintended blowback that made the Limbaugh condemnation such a legislative highlight of the 110th Congress.

Congress members also continue to toil tirelessly to castigate a hey War on Terror ally via a symbolic condemnation of a 90-year-old genocide, sure to pay some of those restoring-America's-standing-in-the-world dividends.

So social security may still be headed over a cliff and the tax cuts helping to fuel our economy may still be ticking down to auto-expiration, but the 110th can hardly be labeled a "do-nothing" Congress.  I for one eagerly support giving them Fridays off and I'd strongly urge Hoyer to consider phoning it in on Thursdays too.

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Update:  Scott Ott notes that, Constitutionally speaking, Congress is only required to meet once a year.  Even better.

The president noted that Article I, Section 4 of the “little-known historical document” calls for Congress to meet “at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December.”

“Making laws can be exhausting. You must be bushed,” the president said in a memo to Congress. “You deserve a rest from the stressful toil of loading burdens on the backs of the American people..."