Congress and the Five Day Work Week

A story out in the Washington Post today says that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer sent around a letter notifying members in the House they should expect to be in Washington longer than the three day work week they have become accustomed to. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) says this is Democrats being anti-family because it will force members to be away from their families which will lead to divorce or something like that. I agree with Kingston but not for the same reasons.

The fact is members of Congress need to be spending MORE time in their districts not less. When I worked for Senator Berine Sanders on the Hill, the issue to me was never that they were working too few days, but rather when they did work they debated and voted only on crap issues like naming post offices and Rightwing wedge issues. Days back in the district for Bernie were not vacation days, they were work days. Bernie would hold town meetings, press conferences, meet with local groups, etc. To my mind, that was just as important if not more important as the work he was doing in DC.

Kos writes that "Apparently, it also says that there's a law against members moving their families to Washington D.C."
This would be a terrible idea. These guys are already way too disconnected from the people they represent as it is, they certainly don't need to be moving fulltime to DC. If Democrats actually force votes and debates on issues that matter, then there is plenty they can accomplish in a three-day Washington work week.