Wow, GWB lecturing Congress on taking too much vacation is like having Bristol Palin advocate for abstinence. Do politicians really still wonder why the general public distrusts all polictians, particularly faux-servatives?

we would be better off to pay them a million dollars to never come to 'work'. all they do is pass bills that takes money from us.

Tax payer sponsored trips to all over have increased. Never saw so many summits, conferences, symposiums, seminars, forums, meetings, conventions, talks, etc., etc., etc... Gawd, ever heard of net meeting?

A few well-entrenched senior Senators may treat the August recess as an extended vacation, but for the rank and file it's a much-needed chance to go home and listen to their constituents - to escape from the Beltway's bubble and be American again. Believe it or not, this makes them better Senators.

Sometimes other things pop up as well. Chris Dodd has been patiently waiting for several weeks to have his prostate cancer surgery in August.

This article is misinformed. I'm a critic of the House/Senate where criticism is due, but as someone who used to work on the Hill, I'll defend the use of August recess. It may not be a time that lawmakers are passing legislation, but it's an important part of their constituent outreach. Many of our congressman and senators (maybe some) are not taking lavish vacations during this time - most of them are out in their districts meeting with the people who they represent. Isn't that what we're always asking for - that our representatives stop and listen to us?

We other than maybe a half dozen or so all of the Senate is made up of paid employee's of several industries including the health & military companies leading the way.... These so called elected people that are supposed to be there for the peoples work should be curbed walked & brought to trial for bribery in a real court of law where the judges are not elected or appointed by George Bush or any other big money republican or democrat.....

I for one would love to see every senator & house by member by name listed with the money they get every year & in total say for the last 10 years from just those two lobbying groups plastered on the front pages of the newspapers.... We would never see that since the newspapers are also in the pocket of those same companies because of advertising but it would surely wake up the public to just whose side these in the wallet criminals are on.....

Listen to constituents? That was another era.

These so-called "public servants" (for the most part) only serve themselves.

I found this article to be a bit confusing. So are the Senators "in their districts listening to their constiuents" or are they out of the country "snorkling"?

Either way, a 5 week break is really quite the luxury, isn't it? Who gets anywhere near this in vacation time? And paid for to boot, WTF. I don't think most Americans have spent 5 weeks their whole lives on vacation.

I intend to contact my own Senator during this break (if he's not off exploring the great unknown) and once again, tell him why we need single payor reform.

I wish all these Congressmen and Senators be more transparent and let us know their schedule for all five weeks so we can meet them in their offices, doing people's work.

They do their damage, then leave town.

Maybe the voters should give all of them
permanent vacations.

More than fifty days paid leave, a platinum-plated retirement plan, the best medical plan in the world - wow!
These are people who sell children's lives to get elected.
Nice work if you can get it.
And if you can stomach it.

The 535 must go. Dump the 535. As soon as you allow that so-in-so is a righteous representative, hard working and above reproach, then they ar all included.

We need to renew our politics. Hold an independent convention. Write our own platform.

200 thousand delegates times $200 delegate fee 'e quills' 40 million dollars, enough to set up camp on 700 acres and include delegate entertainment: Bono, Bruce, the Stones, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, others.

We could establish a web site where all the attending delegates could submit planks for the body at large to vote up or down. Whoever writes the best plank on any issue would cometo the stage to read the plank to the gathering of 200 thousand other delegates and then we would ratify the plank.

You who wrote the best plank on taking down the department of Homeland Security, along with a redesign of our intelligence agencies would come forward to read the plank for the official ratification, then using modern electronic communication, all the delegates from the different states would "ratify" the plank that we all ratified in advance unofficially on the web site, and you whose plank was chosen would hang around the stage area, turn into a music groupie and meet Mick Jagger.

The music created every night could be sold to HBO and another stay-at-home delegates could pay per view and the bottom line is we would also nominate 435 fresh members for the House of Representatives and as many of the senators who are up for re-election also ratified byn the 200,000 delegates - then after the convention all the candidates would immediately apply to the local PBC station in their district to give a speech on behalf of their campaign.

Here is an example of a plank: The Congress shall establish a Political Speech Fund, to replace the defunct matching fund program administered by the Federal Election Commission. The Political Speech fund shall be a $3.00 check off on the income tax. Any corporation, or company, or individual can "dough-nate" as much money as they want to the speech fund. Their name may appear as a slow scroll along the bottom of the screen as having given money to the speech fund.

Any person legally qualified to be voted for, whether independent or mnominated by a registetrecd political party is elegible for funding from the Speech Fund.

The candidate, whether on the ballot or pro-claimed 'write-in' has the right to contact the commercial broadcast television station, or cable program of their choice, and book their slot for a live speech the candidate must publicly swear to have written.

The money to pay for the "air-time" shall equal the amount of ad dollars the station is losing from the poltical speech airing instead of the scheduled sitcom. major live sport events are exempt from the political speech bump.

Simple plank. Political speech takes place on broadcast stations. The broadcasters are paid from the speech fund, and your sons and daughters can run for political office - become representatives without compromising their integrity and their souls to Money & Power.

Here is another plank: Medical education will be free for all potential doctors, dentists, nurses, and related personal. The doctors will have 40 years to pay back the educartion money fronted to them interest free, as long as they accept $5000 worth of medicaid patients in addition to their other patients, per year.

The goal of the free medical education program is to graduate 100,000 doctors a year, up from the current 16 thousand, so we will not have medical rationing. The ultimate goal is one doctor per every two thousand households.

Here is another plank: Medicare and Medicaid are heareby empowered to make bulk pre-purchase arrangements, based on the best generic prices for various medicines that are prescribed for their patients.

You write the planks, you gather, you ratify the platform, the candidates subscribe to passing all the planks, and the FBI will knock on your door wanting to know who the hell do you think you are to question the status quo.

visit michaelslevinson dot commie but do not visit that web site from your house because then the FBI will know you were there. Do irt from a library.

Since they're working for us, we should demand the following:
1. Term limits.
2. Must take the same government health plan offered to taxpayers while they're in office.
3. All future raises, benefits, and entitlements must be voted on by the taxpayers.
4. Since they retire at full salary, they must be barred from lobbying for life.
5. They must disclose any and all family members working within the government, working for firms that lobby our government, or working for foreign nations that do business with our government.

Couple typos, like PBC instead of PBS otherwise quite all right. The 535 Must go. Dump the 535.

I am glad the Senate is taking a month off. They sure have not been doing a good job in Washington. The last time a Senator was President was JFK. They do nothing but make laws and spend money. They have frozen Social Security Cost of Living benefit until 2013 but they sure took theirs. Check the health bill ideas and you will see Seniors are being hit the hardest. Before a health bill should be passed the illegal situation has to be taken care of like sending them home. The mortgage problems, loss of jobs problems, changing the Elec. Grid,, Pulling away from mid-east oil and taking care ot the biggest economic problem of all that is coming and that is Commercial Real Estate. I say start thinking about voting out the whole bunch. They just keep doing business as Usual and I am tired of their Usual.