A breathtakingly disgusting article that is a must read

[Brickbat]

1. My representative, who is coming back after serving back in the 70s, had some things to say about

this.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/185928001.html

So far, this is how Rep. Rick Nolan’s first week in Congress has gone: Get sworn-in on Thursday, take three votes on Friday, and then adjourn for a week.

In fact, the House is scheduled to be in session only six more days this month. Plus 11 days in February, for a grand total of 17 work days between now and the next “fiscal cliff” deadline on automatic ("sequester&quot spending cuts.

“We’re not working four or five days a week, like everybody else does in America,” said the Minnesota Democrat. “The fact is, Congress is not governing.”

Nolan, who served three terms in the 1970s, is often asked how Congress has changed over the intervening decades. On Monday, he told Minnesota reporters that the biggest difference is the reduced work schedule – and the amount of time lawmakers spend on the phone begging for campaign cash.

By Nolan’s estimate, the average “call time,” is about 30 hours a week. “The time that people are spending now raising money and campaigning is time Congress used to spend governing,” he said.

Nolan wants to fix this by introducing legislation limiting the time lawmakers can spend campaigning and increasing the transparency requirements around fundraising.