Recessing the House just now is indefensible. The 118th Congress had conspicuously avoided its responsibilities while in session, but this latest outrage is the worst yet.
Recessing the House just now is indefensible. The 118th Congress had conspicuously avoided its responsibilities while in session, but this latest outrage is the worst yet.
We voters should be writing our representatives to complain and to Speaker of the House, that if he wants to save the tax payers money he should not make us pay them for not doing the work they are elected to do, by recessing when their is important work to be done. We should ask for the national election ballot to have a referendum that we don't pay politicians who miss a certain number of days, unless they are ill. It seems to me that Mike Johnson recessed to avoid dealing with the Aid to our allies funding bill. That should warrant everyone at least writing to their Representatives in the House.
An important thing to note is that when lawmakers are on recess, they are NOT on vacation (or at least not supposed to be). They are working from their offices in the home state/district, instead of their offices in D.C. The alternative is having them be separated from their constituents entirely (and their families), or being inactive in one location or the other for months at a time. People seem to totally forget this. The *good* members are busy wherever they are.
That said high-level negotiations can only be realistically done in D.C. and recessing before they are complete is beyond irresponsible.
Good point. Recess is a term too conflated. There are campaign related activities and other obligations to their donors to consider, while also serving the interests of the rest of their constituency. Whole body and committee actions are suspended during a recess.
Actually, Jen, pressure from constituents is important and effective. As members of Congress keep track of the number of pro and con phone calls, emails, and letters; it's urgent that we contact our representatives. I usually call. Johnson will cave under pressure. It's up to us to apply that pressure!
Even the ones that don't care, count votes. Very few of our emails or letters are read. But someone in every politician's office counts the sentiments of those communications. If enough people write and express their outrage, that can affect any politician's decisions. Of course, writing to the equivalent of an alien toad is frustrating. So just fire away with short missives.
I have my Senators, my House Rep and the WH all set up with auto fill - super easy to just fill in my latest rant.
Sorry about FL. We have family there. Blue dots in a red sea of insanity and bigotry.
IтАЩve written and called my representative, a Republican -- somewhat unusual in New Jersey, several times and have come to the same conclusion as you, he doesnтАЩt care.
I agree, but appealing to their sense of duty to taxpayers will only seenike a joke to them. We need to put a fire under their asses and the fear of God andother Nature into their shriveled up little hearts
Still, I have written mine this morning demanding that they get back to work to earn our tax dollars and support my cousins who are stationed in Germany, the military in general, and our allies.------ I was reading an article yesterday in Euro News that EU countries and the USA are having difficulties recruiting people into the military. In the EU because the youth don't believe in war for the most part, and in the USA, because a huge part of our population is too obese to join the military who would be eligible to otherwise. This leads to White Supremacists more easily slipping in. I read that Spain and another country are considering using immigrants, with a fast road to citizenship. I have been recommending this to be a strategy for Ukraine, since I read that Putin was conscripting refugees once Finland closed the border to them. Perhaps this should be a US strategy as well.
Mr. Johnson and the rest of the MAGA crew have egg on their face after the murder of Navalny. LetтАЩs also not forget that Matt Getthemwhiletheyre young has his own problems. HowтАЩs that going taking orders from PO1135809?
"ask for the national election ballot to have a referendum". Separate it from the election! This would be a great reform for all time, allowing the American people to weaponize public efforts to pressure Congress whenever they forget the people's will.
Jonathan, this Congress has only continued to meet its responsibilities, not avoided them.
Remember, Republicans are responsible for covering up for, defending, funding the fat orange fraud, rapist, con man, and rouser of hate.
Putin killed Navalny, as he killed democracy in Russia -- rather as the ideologue, theocratic U.S. Supreme Court killed the personal, health, and family life of U.S. women. Both Putin and the court hold their forced packaging of others above the law that had protected freedoms.
That fat, waddling orange guy -- he so hates the law which might curb his corruptions. And Nazis abroad the land support him, like that spineless theocrat speaker of the U.S. House.
But there are so many Nazis mixed in among the Republicans -- so many totally dehumanized, totally for the international murderers like Putin.
Dems? Too many are fooling themselves that these criminal classes are imploding, when ilk as Putin, Trump, Tucker, Clarence, and the U.S. House Howdy Doody still hold themselves immune for criminality.
No kidding Jonathan. I have written to two Republican Congresscritters chastising them for being traitors to America and begging them to pass aid to Ukraine.
I received a response from Don Bacon (NE) yesterday. I haven't opened it yet. He has been ignoring my emails since Johnson was made Trump's puppet. No response from John Rutherford (R-FL4). They both have military backgrounds and say they support Ukraine. What a crock.
Hopefully, the press will hound Johnson incessantly by whatever rock he is hiding under.
Astonishingly they don't care about their constituents or the country and they think of themselves as patriots. What do they care about? Being primaries out of their seats by trump's cultists.
We need to federalize what Oregon did. Chronic Absenteeism needs to have a punishment. Failure to be present and vote on bills disqualifies future running for office. No recess till the critical work gets done. The threat of shutting everything down through not appropriating needs a severe consequence to those that perpetuate destruction of the full faith and credit. IsnтАЩt this a part of one of the reconstruction amemdments?
As a healthcare worker, if the end of the shift came and the work wasnтАЩt done, nobody went home until it was completed. We are paying these Congress people and they are going home with work unfinishedтАж how can we stop this?
Recessing the House just now is indefensible. The 118th Congress had conspicuously avoided its responsibilities while in session, but this latest outrage is the worst yet.
We voters should be writing our representatives to complain and to Speaker of the House, that if he wants to save the tax payers money he should not make us pay them for not doing the work they are elected to do, by recessing when their is important work to be done. We should ask for the national election ballot to have a referendum that we don't pay politicians who miss a certain number of days, unless they are ill. It seems to me that Mike Johnson recessed to avoid dealing with the Aid to our allies funding bill. That should warrant everyone at least writing to their Representatives in the House.
An important thing to note is that when lawmakers are on recess, they are NOT on vacation (or at least not supposed to be). They are working from their offices in the home state/district, instead of their offices in D.C. The alternative is having them be separated from their constituents entirely (and their families), or being inactive in one location or the other for months at a time. People seem to totally forget this. The *good* members are busy wherever they are.
That said high-level negotiations can only be realistically done in D.C. and recessing before they are complete is beyond irresponsible.
Good point. Recess is a term too conflated. There are campaign related activities and other obligations to their donors to consider, while also serving the interests of the rest of their constituency. Whole body and committee actions are suspended during a recess.
I have written to them many timesтАж..I dont think they careтАж.(and I live in FL, so, there ya go)
With you. They donтАЩt care. ItтАЩs useless. I get the same stock letter as a response every time.
Actually, Jen, pressure from constituents is important and effective. As members of Congress keep track of the number of pro and con phone calls, emails, and letters; it's urgent that we contact our representatives. I usually call. Johnson will cave under pressure. It's up to us to apply that pressure!
You are creating a record though and this is good. Hopefully it makes you feel good to write the letters, or at least better.
Thank you.
Even the ones that don't care, count votes. Very few of our emails or letters are read. But someone in every politician's office counts the sentiments of those communications. If enough people write and express their outrage, that can affect any politician's decisions. Of course, writing to the equivalent of an alien toad is frustrating. So just fire away with short missives.
I have my Senators, my House Rep and the WH all set up with auto fill - super easy to just fill in my latest rant.
Sorry about FL. We have family there. Blue dots in a red sea of insanity and bigotry.
My rep is Democrat but I wish I knew how to set up and do the autofill.
Me too. Grateful to live in a blue state. I use a password manager that autofills name address, etc.
IтАЩve written and called my representative, a Republican -- somewhat unusual in New Jersey, several times and have come to the same conclusion as you, he doesnтАЩt care.
I agree, but appealing to their sense of duty to taxpayers will only seenike a joke to them. We need to put a fire under their asses and the fear of God andother Nature into their shriveled up little hearts
Still, I have written mine this morning demanding that they get back to work to earn our tax dollars and support my cousins who are stationed in Germany, the military in general, and our allies.------ I was reading an article yesterday in Euro News that EU countries and the USA are having difficulties recruiting people into the military. In the EU because the youth don't believe in war for the most part, and in the USA, because a huge part of our population is too obese to join the military who would be eligible to otherwise. This leads to White Supremacists more easily slipping in. I read that Spain and another country are considering using immigrants, with a fast road to citizenship. I have been recommending this to be a strategy for Ukraine, since I read that Putin was conscripting refugees once Finland closed the border to them. Perhaps this should be a US strategy as well.
Mr. Johnson and the rest of the MAGA crew have egg on their face after the murder of Navalny. LetтАЩs also not forget that Matt Getthemwhiletheyre young has his own problems. HowтАЩs that going taking orders from PO1135809?
I call Ken Buck all the time but he's not the problem any more. It's the Andy Biggs and Empty Gees constituents who are the issue.
"ask for the national election ballot to have a referendum". Separate it from the election! This would be a great reform for all time, allowing the American people to weaponize public efforts to pressure Congress whenever they forget the people's will.
Jonathan, this Congress has only continued to meet its responsibilities, not avoided them.
Remember, Republicans are responsible for covering up for, defending, funding the fat orange fraud, rapist, con man, and rouser of hate.
Putin killed Navalny, as he killed democracy in Russia -- rather as the ideologue, theocratic U.S. Supreme Court killed the personal, health, and family life of U.S. women. Both Putin and the court hold their forced packaging of others above the law that had protected freedoms.
That fat, waddling orange guy -- he so hates the law which might curb his corruptions. And Nazis abroad the land support him, like that spineless theocrat speaker of the U.S. House.
But there are so many Nazis mixed in among the Republicans -- so many totally dehumanized, totally for the international murderers like Putin.
Dems? Too many are fooling themselves that these criminal classes are imploding, when ilk as Putin, Trump, Tucker, Clarence, and the U.S. House Howdy Doody still hold themselves immune for criminality.
Phil, all sadly, very true. But my optimistic coffee is kicking in. Read this. It might cheer you up. https://www.reuters.com/legal/how-will-trump-pay-his-355-million-civil-fraud-judgment-2024-02-16/
No kidding Jonathan. I have written to two Republican Congresscritters chastising them for being traitors to America and begging them to pass aid to Ukraine.
I received a response from Don Bacon (NE) yesterday. I haven't opened it yet. He has been ignoring my emails since Johnson was made Trump's puppet. No response from John Rutherford (R-FL4). They both have military backgrounds and say they support Ukraine. What a crock.
Hopefully, the press will hound Johnson incessantly by whatever rock he is hiding under.
Astonishingly they don't care about their constituents or the country and they think of themselves as patriots. What do they care about? Being primaries out of their seats by trump's cultists.
We need to federalize what Oregon did. Chronic Absenteeism needs to have a punishment. Failure to be present and vote on bills disqualifies future running for office. No recess till the critical work gets done. The threat of shutting everything down through not appropriating needs a severe consequence to those that perpetuate destruction of the full faith and credit. IsnтАЩt this a part of one of the reconstruction amemdments?
Yes! If we didnтАЩt show up for our jobs, we would be fired. There needs to be accountability for their refusal to serve we, the people.
As a healthcare worker, if the end of the shift came and the work wasnтАЩt done, nobody went home until it was completed. We are paying these Congress people and they are going home with work unfinishedтАж how can we stop this?
maddening!