The gentleman sitting in the row in front of these two is on facebook, and the guy behind Hennessy is checking out baseball scores. This is the US Congress at work. With hard hitting economic times, a national emergency and a nation still at war, this image does not fare well with the public. America's poverty and unemployment rates continue to grow while politicians enjoy three day work weeks, generous health care benefits and pensions. The US government accounts for 18 percent of US income.
Roughly 500 thousand folks lose jobs every week of this year putting the number of the unemployed around 20 million. According to research published in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adoloscent Medicine, 50 percent of US children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives. Nationwide, 36 million Americans are on food stamps, that's 11 percent of the population. It represents an 8 million (28 percent) increase from last year's levels.
For arguement's sake we could give politicians the benefit of the doubt. Maybe these extended budget sessions are rather lengthy and boring. Maybe some of the representatives are multi tasking, perfectly able to conduct policy and financial matters while simultaneously entertaining themselves. Yet to see politicians and elected officials surfing the net while in session speaks volumes.
These are the highly educated professionals we look to for leadership. They are the elected representatives of the American people.Whatever the explanation for this idle behavior, they should at least give the public and the world, the appearance that the nation's business is more important than baseball highlights and facebook surfing. It seems in this instance, a picture really is worth a thousand words.
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