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Ever get the feeling though that no one is riding herd on the agencies though?

 Easy E wrote:
Wow, unanimous. I did not expect that.

That seriously undermines the power of the Executive Branch. I predict that the Senate and Congress will never be out of session going forward.*

To be honest. The reason for Congress having out of session periods is mostly gone now. It was originally there because it took a while for people to travel between their district and the Capital.

Now we could just look at it as a full time job. You get a few weeks of vacation and major holidays off, every other time its open for business.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Wow, unanimous. I did not expect that.

That seriously undermines the power of the Executive Branch. I predict that the Senate and Congress will never be out of session going forward.*

To be honest. The reason for Congress having out of session periods is mostly gone now. It was originally there because it took a while for people to travel between their district and the Capital.

Now we could just look at it as a full time job. You get a few weeks of vacation and major holidays off, every other time its open for business.

Honestly, I don't think we should count it as being open 24/7/365.

You shouldn't get to pretend that it's a full time job f you spend 70% of your time traveling and raising money for the job you do the other 30% of the time. At home raising money instead of doing your job = recess.

But that would never fly with them.

Should, could, but won't.

Thats Congress.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Wow, unanimous. I did not expect that.

That seriously undermines the power of the Executive Branch. I predict that the Senate and Congress will never be out of session going forward.*

To be honest. The reason for Congress having out of session periods is mostly gone now. It was originally there because it took a while for people to travel between their district and the Capital.

Now we could just look at it as a full time job. You get a few weeks of vacation and major holidays off, every other time its open for business.

I'm not sure 113 working days should be considered full time.

 Ahtman wrote:

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Must sting for someone trained as a Constitutional lawyer

Not really. The law isn't as clear cut as people like to think it is. If it were there would hardly be any need of lawyers to argue over it, as well as the mountains of writing about it. A Constitutional expert would know that you win some, you lose some, and you bend some a bit.

I love when people take pithy comments serious Besides with Obama's current record of 12 straight losses it's a good thing he's in government work

 whembly wrote:
No worries.

Just don't take me too seriously man.

As long as you keep posting from the National Review there'll be no danger of that


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 whembly wrote:
I read that as hyperbolic and very flammatory article... But, yeah this administration can get spooky. Just look at the Prism/NSA debacle or even the recently released Drone Killing memo.

Just out of curiousity, do you think those policies are uniquely Obama decisions, that wouldn't have been made under some other president? And I mean both the actual people that could have beaten Obama, so Hillary, McCain or Romney, or some hypothetical president who would hold all the standard beliefs and behaviours common to all modern US presidents.

Because I see Prism and the rest and I see the intelligence community more or less acting under it believes it should, and a president who is not so much directing that but just failing to actually stop it in any way.

That isn't a point I make to excuse Obama, because a sitting President should bloody well do everything he can to protect the civil liberties of US citizens, but rather a point against the idea that this is an Obama issue, that will go away when Obama is out of office. That seems to me to be severely underestimating the problem.

 Ahtman wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Wow, unanimous. I did not expect that.

That seriously undermines the power of the Executive Branch. I predict that the Senate and Congress will never be out of session going forward.*

To be honest. The reason for Congress having out of session periods is mostly gone now. It was originally there because it took a while for people to travel between their district and the Capital.

Now we could just look at it as a full time job. You get a few weeks of vacation and major holidays off, every other time its open for business.

I'm not sure 113 working days should be considered full time.

I wasn't saying the way it currently is set up is a full time job. Only that it should be.

Congress should be open 5 days a week most of the year.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Now we could just look at it as a full time job. You get a few weeks of vacation and major holidays off, every other time its open for business.

It's a common misconception that when politicians aren't in session they're not working. When in session they work full time at political theatre, when out of session they work full time designing policy and writing legislation and working for their districts.

Well yeah, they're doing stuff all the time. Just not always productive stuff.

 sebster wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
Now we could just look at it as a full time job. You get a few weeks of vacation and major holidays off, every other time its open for business.

It's a common misconception that when politicians aren't in session they're not working. When in session they work full time at political theatre, when out of session they work full time designing policy and writing legislation and working for their districts.

I see my local politician way to much and it causes me pain every time.

 sebster wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:

 whembly wrote:
I read that as hyperbolic and very flammatory article... But, yeah this administration can get spooky. Just look at the Prism/NSA debacle or even the recently released Drone Killing memo.

Just out of curiousity, do you think those policies are uniquely Obama decisions, that wouldn't have been made under some other president? And I mean both the actual people that could have beaten Obama, so Hillary, McCain or Romney, or some hypothetical president who would hold all the standard beliefs and behaviours common to all modern US presidents.

Not unique to Obama... it's just that when the gak hit the fan, Obama's handling of the situation is left wanting.

Because I see Prism and the rest and I see the intelligence community more or less acting under it believes it should, and a president who is not so much directing that but just failing to actually stop it in any way.

That's the way I see it too... even with most other Agencies as well.

That isn't a point I make to excuse Obama, because a sitting President should bloody well do everything he can to protect the civil liberties of US citizens, but rather a point against the idea that this is an Obama issue, that will go away when Obama is out of office. That seems to me to be severely underestimating the problem.

True... I just wish he pulled the plug. We still don't even know if NSA/Prism are still collecting out data.

*shrug* It's a problem that transcend one man. But, one man (the Prez) can actually fething do something about it.

 gunslingerpro wrote:
Almost heartwarming to see one branch protecting the strength of another.

Like your avatar, it gives me joy.

 kronk wrote:

 gunslingerpro wrote:
Almost heartwarming to see one branch protecting the strength of another.

Like your avatar, it gives me joy.

You mis-spelled wood

Same thing, at my age.

 Ahtman wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Wow, unanimous. I did not expect that.

That seriously undermines the power of the Executive Branch. I predict that the Senate and Congress will never be out of session going forward.*

To be honest. The reason for Congress having out of session periods is mostly gone now. It was originally there because it took a while for people to travel between their district and the Capital.

Now we could just look at it as a full time job. You get a few weeks of vacation and major holidays off, every other time its open for business.

I'm not sure 113 working days should be considered full time.

I'm not certain that could even be considered part time.

Personally, I don't see this affecting the Pres all that much now that the senate filibuster rules changed, the thing that was keeping the vacancies... vacant.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Well yeah, they're doing stuff all the time. Just not always productive stuff.

People love to say that kind of stuff all time. It's fun and a healthy disrespect for our elected leaders is good, so whatever.

But seriously, it's way more than a full time job. The deadlock you see has nothing to do with politicians not working enough hours, but is actually to do with democracy - when you can't get a majority on an issue no amount of 'work' will change that.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Bullockist wrote:
I see my local politician way to much and it causes me pain every time.

I've got Michael Keenan, .

He's basically just a Grey Blur, to borrow a phrase He's Minister for Justice, gained through the tried and true method of spending long enough dicking around in a safe seat that eventually they have to give him a ministry spot.

Better than Abbott, though, no doubt about that.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

 whembly wrote:
Not unique to Obama... it's just that when the gak hit the fan, Obama's handling of the situation is left wanting.

Absolutely.

True... I just wish he pulled the plug. We still don't even know if NSA/Prism are still collecting out data.

*shrug* It's a problem that transcend one man. But, one man (the Prez) can actually fething do something about it.

And agreed on all points again. The President certainly can do something about, but no person that ever ends up as President will actually do something about. Voting for one guy or another over national security and intelligence issues is a really bad way to assign your vote (which was an opinion I first started to form when people said they wanted to vote for Obama over gitmo and rendition and similar stuff - Obama was never going to change that stuff).

Any changes to that stuff needs to come from a real grassroots change to the major political parties, and would probably need an inter-generational effort.