Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
Writing today in The Hill, former New Hampshire Senator and Governor Judd Gregg has a novel suggestion for members of the elected branches of government in Washington: stop pretending like you're doing something. From the piece:
The president is in full campaign mode. So is Congress. The federal government has been put into a holding pattern until the November elections ... This being the situation, one might ask — Why don’t they all go home? They could leave Washington to the pundits and lobbyists.
... If Washington was vacated, it would be a more honest expression of the reality of the status of governance for the next six months. It might help the American people believe that there is some integrity to the situation.
Of course, this would give the bureaucracy a disproportionate role in the everyday activity of the government. But on the other hand, it would focus the fact that Washington is already run almost entirely by a professional, mid-level cadre of government workers.
Congress only engages at the margin in the day-to-day activities of the government and since no legislation is going to be done, no budget resolution passed or individual appropriations bills completed, even the role of Congress and the White House is dramatically reduced.
Of course, Gregg is writing with tongue somewhat in cheek. Later in the piece, he criticizes the current denizens of the Beltway for the fact that "they do not plan to govern" and for "a lack of leadership and problem solving in Washington." He seems to think the problem here is politicians' inattentiveness to the duties of office.
But while Gregg is trying to shame elected officials back to work, I'm thinking that I'd be happier with the original offer -- a Congress that's not around half of the time. When Rick Perry proposed a part-time Congress from the campaign trail, it was met with widespread derision in the press, received as the kind of notion that right-thinking people just don't entertain. But Senator Gregg's column points us to the real issue here: We already have a part-time Congress. We're just giving them full-time power and paying them (and the people populating the infrastructure that supports them) full-time money.
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Comments:
Jul '11
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
I agree with you Troy, perhaps we could eliminate their benefits too given the part time status.
Edited on April 23, 2012 at 7:37pmMar '11
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
When I moved to Georgia on temporary relocation in the 80's, I was shocked to discover that the Georgia General Assembly only meets for forty days every year. Shocked, then enamored. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it.
One can do a lot of damage in forty days, but then one has to spend the rest of the time in the company of one's constituents, getting razzed for it.
Apr '11
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
Most election years, they pass a budget and do other things. I'm glad, for instance, that the 104th Congress stayed in place in 1996 to pass welfare reform. The 112th Congress is just an unusually terrible one.
Dec '11
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
Is it wrong that my mind went immediately to all the horrible recess appointments Obama would make five minutes after everyone left town?
Jul '11
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
This should be hammered on throughout the cycle, especially in congressional elections. House candidates too; they can show how much they work in comparison to the Senate dems. Oh, and I really hope that the libs try the whole "Party of No" tack, just for contrast. Finally, Harry Reid should never be mentioned without referencing the last time they passed a budget: April 29, 2009. Coming up on the big 3rd anniversary!
-E
Jun '10
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
Gregg makes a good point, but it's Obama and the Senate Democrats who are taking the year off: the rest of Congress certainly would like to get something done.
Dec '11
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
The belgians went 18 months without a government and apparently everybody was pretty happy with that.
Jul '11
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
Did they have a smoke and a pancake?
Apr '11
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
For much of my time in Iraq, there was a question over who our permanent Ministry of Finance boss was going to be, as the government took quite a while to form. It ended up being a pretty good guy, albeit not one with any background or education in finance, but we were mostly doing fine before he arrived.
America, though, is not on as happy a glide path as Iraq was. If Congress does nothing, even static and optimistic projections show America collapsing in the relatively near future. Inactive legislatures are a great conservative thing, assuming you're wishing to avoid reforms, as conservatives traditionally have been. Hurrah, Texas, New Hampshire, and so on. That's not where we are, federally.
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
A great, great point. And a follow-up question for all: Does the need for an 'active' legislature necessitate a full-time legislature? That is, would a part-time body be incapable of producing the reforms that (broadly speaking) we all agree are needed at the federal level?
James Of England
If Congress does nothing, even static and optimistic projections show America collapsing in the relatively near future. Inactive legislatures are a great conservative thing, assuming you're wishing to avoid reforms, as conservatives traditionally have been. Hurrah, Texas, New Hampshire, and so on. That's not where we are, federally. · 1 hour ago
Dec '10
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
Hell, I would gladly pay each and every one of them quadruple their regular salary if they'd agree to go home and never come back to DC again. They could be sworn in after re-election over the phone. No need to ever reconvene the bodies.
Every moment that building is full and the chambers are in session, our freedom is being killed one lemon soaked paper cut at a time. It's as simple as that.
If they didn't make a single new law for a decade, we'd survive just fine. Hell, we'd probably have a boom, 'cause at least taxes et al and other govt induced costs would be stable for a whole ten year stretch. Businesses could finally plan farther into the future than next month.
But that'll never happen.
They have to DO SOMETHING!
Even (or maybe especially) if it's wrong.
Dec '10
Re: Judd Gregg: End the Charade, Admit that Washington is Taking the Year Off
James Of England
Inactive legislatures are a great conservative thing, assuming you're wishing to avoid reforms, as conservatives traditionally have been. Hurrah, Texas, New Hampshire, and so on. That's not where we are, federally.
Your assessment is right on, unfortunately.
It's also kinda cute that you actually think that any politician is going to make a constructive difference, vis a vis changing our fiscal trajectory.
I fear that we are well and truly hosed, regardless of what congress does or does not do.