Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
Yesterday, Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced the end of the page program. The program had been in operation for some 200 years but the current class will be the last.
A friend of mine joked on Twitter:
Man, that axing the page program announcement really sent the markets tumbling yesterday, didn't it?
When they announced the end of the program, Boehner and Pelosi bragged that it would save $5 million a year. That's sort of the same thing as saying that they've saved no money by cancelling the program. So why did they end something with so much history? I was nominated by my Congresman to serve as a page 20 years ago, although he didn't get a slot that year. Another friend of mine was a page in the late 1980s and continued to work for the then-speaker Jim Wright until he was forced to resign.
Pages live in a nice dorm right near the House and wear dark blazers and help Congressman deliver messages and bills. Boehner and Pelosi also said that their jobs became redundant, what with messages now being delivered electronically.
Coming from a Congress that kept ice delivery programs in place through the end of the last century, I'm having a hard time believing efficiency was a motivator.
It's more likely that the Page program, which has played a role in a number of Congressional sex scandals, was killed because leaders can't control their members. It would be nice if we could trust politicians with our kids rather than ruin one of the coolest programs available to high school juniors.
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
Whoa! $5 million? The current page class is reportedly 52, which works out to over $96K per page. How does a page cost more than a Harvard law student?
Sep '10
Re: Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
leaders can't control their members
Ahem. Double entendre alert.
Jul '10
Re: Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
It will be interesting to see which members don't stand for reelection subsequent to this.
Apr '11
Re: Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
Maybe $5 million doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but $5M here, $5M there, it all adds up. We can hardly complain about federal funding of cowboy poetry festivals and then complain when a program this obsolete is cut.
Feb '11
Re: Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
In what way is running errands for a member of Congress without compensation a cool program for a high school student? They learn nothing about the operation of any business and are led to believe that Congress is deserving of donations of our time. A job at Starbucks sounds far more productive and edifying. Good riddance.
Dec '10
Re: Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
A totally outdated and unnecessary program. How can we extol this and then complain about funding Big Bird? I don't care if it's 5 million dollars or 500 dollars. It serves no practical purpose so it should go.
I would guess the page program is a resume enhancer for the kids of elite donors. All the more reason to get rid of it.
Aug '10
Re: Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
Pseudodionysius: leaders can't control their members
Ahem. Double entendre alert. · Aug 9 at 8:53am
Mollie is the soul of discretion, how she resisted adding nor the members their own, I'll never know.
Oct '10
Re: Did Predatory Congressmen Kill Page Program?
I'm all for tradition, but the last thing the folks on the Hill need at the moment is something that implies they are special or deserving of honor or service.