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Health & Fitness

Congress and the Sequester - Positives and Negatives

Congress works 126 days, is on vacation 293 days, and makes $174,000 per year. Sound like a recipe for success?

On the negative side, Congress has an approval rating of 16.4 percent in the polls.

On the positive side, this is up from 11 percent last March. Our representatives get such a low rating because they do very little that is constructive while they are at work, which is now only 126 days out of the year. Then they take 293 vacation days. The Republican Majority leader in the House of Representatives is Republican Eric Cantor and he is in charge of setting the calendar. http://majorityleader.gov/113thCongress1stSession.pdf All this and they make $174,000 per year.

FYI, In 2009 Nancy Pelosi had Congress working for 161 days. http://www.counseling.org/publicpolicy/2009-congressional-calendar.pdf

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The latest “do-nothing” project is the sequester, which will reduce staffing at locations all over Cobb and the metro area. This can only bring down congressional ratings as the full effects of this ultra-dumb legislation become painfully apparent.

On the positive side, many of our elected representatives have so much time on their hands, there may be a new opportunities for what is called “Constituent Work.”

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The opportunities are limitless. Tom Price could volunteer at an understaffed preschool or daycare. Phil Gingrey could aid in the lab at the Centers for Disease Control, perhaps pushing a mop. These jobs are extremely important but not the kind of positions that will get your face on TV.

On the positive side, the reduction of security personnel at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport could work to the advantage of Tom and Phil, if they are looking for face time on camera. As the lines get longer and travelers’ tempers get shorter, the need for a local TV crew will increase. It will be as easy as filming the daily gridlock on our roads. There will be a commotion to film every day at the airport. Tempers will flare, which will make for great TV entertainment, like “Jerry Springer comes to Hartsfield-Jackson.”

Tom and Phil need to be on their toes as volunteer security screening personnel at the airport. If the crowd recognizes them, they might turn on their elected officials who created this mess in the first place. I just Googled “Tar and Feather” and this old time punishment for bad politicians and flim-flam artists is not a sight for the weak.

On the positive side, if Tom and Phil are quick enough, they might get in front of the mob and pretend that they are leading this parade. They could say that Congress needs to be working 40 hours a week, just like everyone else. They could say that shutting down government will be prohibited in the future. They might even demand the end to the filibuster in the Senate. With imminent death at their heels, they might say anything. They might even say the right thing.

It is expected that small and medium airports will be the first ones to see problems from the sequester. Big airports may not see sequester problems for a while.

On the negative side, with Congress at work doing the public’s business, local TV crews will be left to film the daily commuter gridlock once again.

On the positive side, a working Congress could enact legislation that would eventually eliminate our daily televised traffic nightmare and put a lot of people back to work creating new infrastructure, repairing the bad roads and bridges. If the Tea Party gives it a rest, there might be an opportunity to pass bipartisan regional transportation solutions too. The local TV “Gridlock Guy” might need a new job.

If Tom and Phil are still having doubts about “doing the right thing,” we can only hope that their staff has already set up a joint “Meet and Greet” at Lockheed/Dobbins Air Force Base for late March. There will be a lot of unhappy workers wondering why Congress has reduced their work hours. Many airmen will want to know why their flying time has been reduced which also reduces their units’ preparedness for the sake of defeating a tax increase for the very, very rich.

Local TV producers are already dreaming of Tom and Phil getting out in public and visiting the real world.

 

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