Too cutting not to share.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

This comes straight from the nonpartisan--or perhaps I should say equal opportunity cynicism--website ThatsMyCongress.com. I thought it deserved to be read in full.

U.S. Representative Chris Lee is having a hard time in his new job in Congress, he tells WIVB Channel 4 News back in his home town. “I’ve had to vote on over 25 bills that I’ve had less than 24 hours to read,” he complains.

Poor guy. Reading a bill in less than 24 hours sounds hard, doesn’t it?

Actually, it shouldn’t be that hard. Many bills aren’t really very long. Some are just a page or two.

Others are a bit longer, but almost none of them are book-length. They’re more like short stories.

For example, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act managed to close a significant loophole in laws against workplace discriminiation in just 26 pages of text. Sadly, Christopher Lee voted against that anti-discrimination legislation. Was it because he couldn’t read those 26 pages?

Another worthwhile piece of legislation that Chris Lee voted against was the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which sought to give assistance to working Americans facing foreclosure. That bill was longer than the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to be sure, but it still was only 65 pages, and that includes the table of contents. Did Congressman Lee truly have problems reading and understanding that bill?

If Chris Lee doesn’t have the mental stamina to do the job of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he ought to stand aside, and let someone more capable take on the work.