"Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

My eyes rolled so fast when I read this that I got a headache.

With regards to the comments you posted. I can understand his frustration. Yes, he is a public servant...but do you really want Congress in session that often anyway.

While I don't really want Congress in session long enough to pass lots of new laws, if they were in session 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, from the start of the session until the end...

We would have a whole lot less congressmen who wanted the job for life.

I agree with Doug. Kingston needs to quit bitching.

[D]o you really want Congress in session that often anyway?

Point taken. But really, should he be complaining when he was the one who campaigned for the job? If he wants to spend time with his family he should either (A) move his family to suburban Virginia like many other congressmen or (B) go back to Savannah and do some real work in the private sector.

He has, after all, had that seat long enough.

What really makes this amusing is that Steny Hoyer represents the Maryland 5th district. He drives home every night. His commute is shorter than mine.

If he wants to spend time with his family he should...(A) move his family to suburban Virginia like many other congressmen.

I think this is one big problem we have with the goverment now. Congressmen move to the DC area and their focus shifts from representing their constituents to keeping their jobs, which generally leads to massive spending on both sides of the aisle. Personally, I would rather have a representative that continues to stay in touch with the people he works for, instead of someone who spends all his time in Washington. By the way, I live in Kingston's district. He is very much in line with the vast majority of his voters, who I think would probably agree with him on this issue.

[Kingston] is very much in line with the vast majority of his voters, who I think would probably agree with him on this issue.

What? That he should make $150k a year while taking the entire months of August and December off with large chunks of the other months also being off limits, then working for only two and a half days a week the rest of the time he's in D.C.? And then try to whine that "Democrats could care less about families" because they won't let him have his precious four-day weekends?

Yeah, that sounds good.

Let me clarify my remarks. Kingston enjoys a large majority in his district and is generally well-thought of in this community. By being "in line" with his constituents, his beliefs and votes shadow those of this district. I do believe the majority of the voters would agree with him on this issue, whether that would be 1) "Democrats could care less about families" or, as you stated, 2) "That he should make $150k a year while taking the entire months of August and December off with large chunks of the other months also being off limits, then working for only two and a half days a week the rest of the time he's in D.C.?".

As for the first issue, this is a very conservative district and I don't think many of the voters would side with the Democrats over the Republicans on many "family" issues.

The second issue would make it difficult for every Congressman to be "in line" with his or her constituents on the basis that most people probably do not agree with it the way you have presented your case. Perhaps I did not state my argument clearly to begin with, but I believe, as a few earlier have posted, that the less time Congress spends "working", the better off we as a country will be.

Sorry it took so long to reply.

[B]ut I believe ... that the less time Congress spends "working", the better off we as a country will be.

I think this is something that we both can agree on.

As for Kingston, he's a good guy from what I can tell. I just thought his reasoning was the epitome of the slop that passes for political argument these days.

If he wanted to nail the national Democratic party on "family" issues, he could have done it on something legitimate, like partial birth abortion. Instead he used their plan to make Congress work five days a week as a launching point for his "they're against families" attack. That's pretty weak.

Plus, his subsequent arguments about how congressmen work part time in their district tries to steal a couple of bases. Yes, congressmen can do work in their district by listening to constituents or helping them get their Social Security check, etc.

But let's face it: a lot of the time congressmen spend in their districts is directly related to getting free publicity. When Kingston goes to elementary school award ceremonies to hand out certificates, he's doing it so he can get a grip-n-grin picture in the local weekly newspaper. This keeps his name and face in the public, which helps out every other November.

And that's what national Republican party has become: an apparatus less concerned about ideas and more concerned about accumulating power. Unfortunately, they've grip-n-grinned their way to political minority, and it's going to be up to the ideas people to reverse this course, not the career politicians like Kingston who seem to only get upset these days over the loss of their four-day weekends.

There isn't anything I really disagree with in that last post.

I think the way you have characterized the Republican party can be used to describe politicians in general. I don't really see anything different from the Democrats. I think while they may disagree philosophically on some issues, I don't really think that guides the majority of elected officials' decisions. They are simply doing whatever they can to get re-elected and ensure their party controls their respective body of government.

I will say however, I believe it's going to take more than just ideas. At some point, somebody needs to do something other than just shouting "this is how I would do it", "you're stupid", or disagreeing with someone simply because they don't like them.