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Member Since: 12/2005Last Seen: 11/24/2009

'Do-Nothing Congress' raises critics' ire; fewest days in session since 1948

News Type: Event — Seeded on Tue May 16, 2006 11:32 PM EDT
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It's not like there's anything important going on in the country, is there? Still, I'm not sure which is worse: Congress doing nothing, or Congress doing anything.

"Members of Congress know the Washington-area airports very well. Most members use them twice a week, arriving for work late Tuesday and scurrying back to their home states on Thursday. Congress is on schedule to meet fewer days this year than any Congress since 1948 -- the year President Truman campaigned against what he called the "do-nothing Congress."

"They call it the Tuesday to Thursday Club," said Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn. "That means you get here Tuesday night, you have a few easy votes, you vote on Wednesday and then you go back home Thursday afternoon. And that, believe it or not, is considered a work week in Washington."

Rank-and-file members of Congress earn $165,200 a year, and this year for the first time they took off for a St. Patrick's Day holiday.

Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, said voters wonder why he spends so much time in Houston instead of Washington. "I've been hearing from people saying they see me more than they do their city council member," Green said.

He said that is one reason Congress is held in low esteem, adding, "poll numbers for Congress are dismally low, in fact lower than the president's." A recent Associated Press poll found that only 25 percent of the country approves of the job Congress is doing."

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8.6
{"commentId":127318,"authorDomain":"ISPY"}
I SPY

OK What is the Lower House in the U.S. ? Is this right

Congress=Lower. Bills go here first to be made law.

Then they are voted up into the Upper house (called ??

Then to Pres and back to the lower house,

Is chief Justice Like a Monarch ??

Please us terms we can understand.

{"commentId":127318,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"ISPY"}
    Reply#1 - Wed May 17, 2006 6:50 AM EDT
    {"commentId":127346,"authorDomain":"sheep"}
    evano

    "Congress" refers to the Legislative Branch of the 3-part US government. Congress is made up of 2 houses. The lower house is the House of Representatives with 435 members divided among the 50 states based on population, with each member serving a 2-year term. The upper house is the Senate with 100 members consisting of 2 from each of the 50 states, with each member serving a 6-year term in such a way that every 2 years, coincident with the House of Representatives election, 1/3 of the Senators are also up for election.

    Spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and are subsequently introduced into the Senate. Both bodies deliberate on their versions of the bill. Once a bill has passed both houses, it goes to a conference committee where the differences are ironed out and then the final bill goes back to both houses for a vote.

    The bill is then presented to the President, who represents the Executive branch of the 3-part US government. The President signs a bill or vetos it. If signed it becomes law. If vetoed it goes back to the Congress -- both houses -- where it can be overriden by a 2/3 majority vote. The President's role is to execute the laws and has a council of appointed advisers called the Cabinet. Most Cabinet members are heads of Departments and these Departments make up the bureaucracy of the Federal government.

    The Judiciary is the third branch of the government. The highest court in the US judicial system, and the only specified in the Constitution, is the Supreme Court. It consists of 9 justices, all appointed to life terms. 8 of them are Associate Justices and one is appointed to the specific position of Chief Justice. The Supreme Court is mostly an appellate court and has the role of being the final word on the constitutionality of the laws and actions of the Federal, State and local governments.

    Class dismissed. :)

    {"commentId":127346,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"sheep"}
    • 5 votes
    Reply#2 - Wed May 17, 2006 8:26 AM EDT
    {"commentId":401299,"authorDomain":"vas"}
    vas

    One thing to add: Sometimes "Congress" is used to refer to both houses in the legislative branch, as evano describes, but other times it refers to the House of Representatives specifically. For example, while members of the Senate are called senators, the terms "congressman" and "congresswoman" are reserved for members of the House of Representatives.

    Hence, I suspect, your confusion I SPY.

    {"commentId":401299,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"vas"}
    • 2 votes
    #2.1 - Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:37 PM EST
    {"commentId":437966,"authorDomain":"sheep"}
    evano

    I'm gonna have to disagree with you there, vas, old buddy. The proper title for a member of the House of Representatives is... Representative. You'll always see that prefaced before their names, like my Representative, Rep. Ben Cardin, soon to be Senator Cardin. In either position, he could be referred to as Congressman Cardin.

    The confusion comes about, I believe, because "Representative" sounds like a functional title, as in "The person who represents me is my representative." A "Senator" is titled by the body he serves in, so it's natural to look for an analogous title for a Representative. "Housemember" never caught on, nor did something like "MH", a borrowing from parliamentary systems where a representative is called an "MP" or "Member of Parliament."

    The Representative, however, does belong to Congress, a body not named with a function (sort of), so those not fully familiar with our system of government (like FOXNews viewers) or those speaking to those not fully familiar with our form of government (like FOXNews broadcasters) sometimes refer to "Senators and Congresspersons." That doesn't make it correct.

    {"commentId":437966,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"sheep"}
    • 1 vote
    #2.2 - Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:33 AM EST
    {"commentId":438032,"authorDomain":"vas"}
    vas

    evano, my friend, while you may disagree with me, I don't disagree with either you or myself.

    Your point is about proper usage, mine colloquial. See Merriam-Webster's definition or any other dictionary.

    {"commentId":438032,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"vas"}
    • 2 votes
    #2.3 - Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:57 AM EST
    {"commentId":438278,"authorDomain":"sheep"}
    evano

    Vas, you are absolutely correct about the proper vs. colloquial usage of the term. Still, it very much surprised me that M-W would include that usage as a primary definition without indicating that it is colloquial and questionably accurate.

    {"commentId":438278,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"sheep"}
    • 1 vote
    #2.4 - Wed Dec 20, 2006 1:55 PM EST
    Reply
    {"commentId":127359,"authorDomain":"ISPY"}
    I SPY

    Thanks evano 1 more q; Most Cabinet members are heads of Departments and these Departments make up the bureaucracy of the Federal government.

    Are these members holding portfolio's from the upper or lower house or both.

    {"commentId":127359,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"ISPY"}
      Reply#3 - Wed May 17, 2006 8:45 AM EDT
      {"commentId":127395,"authorDomain":"sheep"}
      evano

      Neither. They're non-elected, presidentially-appointed positions. Once the President nominates them, the Senate holds hearings and confirms their appointment. Some of them are former legislators, but many of them come from private industry or academia. In the case of this Administration, several of the Cabinet members were former political advisers to President Bush, or, in the case of Alberto Gonzales -- Attorney General and head of the Department of Justice -- part of his staff. (Gonzales was the President's lawyer for many years.)

      {"commentId":127395,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"sheep"}
      • 2 votes
      #3.1 - Wed May 17, 2006 9:21 AM EDT
      {"commentId":127464,"authorDomain":"ISPY"}
      I SPY

      MMM the plot thickens :) thanx again evano.

      {"commentId":127464,"threadId":"15875","contentId":"199178","authorDomain":"ISPY"}
        #3.2 - Wed May 17, 2006 10:43 AM EDT
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