<\/a>In the ultimate act of Congressional do-nothingness, Congress has abruptly cancelled the few remaining work days scheduled between now [Sept.18] and the Nov. 4 election, packed up and gone home.<\/p>\n

Of course, I use the term \u201cwork days\u201d loosely, as many of our Congressional representatives define their jobs as not deliberating, not voting, not even meeting\u2014and instead spending the bulk of their \u201cwork\u201d days at fundraising events. The little on-the-record \u201cwork\u201d that Republican lawmakers have done in the past six years has consisted mainly of finding ways to block anything that President Obama proposes or that might be good for the country and reflect positively on the President.<\/p>\n

Just for the record, the schedule that they cancelled<\/a> was very, very sparse to begin with. There were 10 scheduled work days in September 2014, of which Congress completed seven before cancelling the rest. Only two work days were scheduled for all of October, and they, too, now have been erased.<\/p>\n

The cynics among us\u2014me included\u2014can argue that Congress not being in session is not a big change from business as usual, judging from its glaring lack of productivity in recent years. We can also argue that the country is actually better off when this particular Congress\u2014dominated as it is by nihilistic, right-wing Republicans\u2014is offline: fewer opportunities to do damage.<\/p>\n

Ironically, cancelling its remaining, pre-election schedule might qualify as the most decisive action Congress has taken this term.<\/p>\n

But why now? One reason might be that the trumped-up \u201cscandals\u201d Congressional Republicans have tried to promote have run dry: Benghazi is dead. Obamacare\u2014despite 50+ just-for-show attempts to repeal it\u2014is alive and well, becoming an accepted fact, and an increasingly lousy issue to run against. So there\u2019s no longer much reason to stay in Washington for show-trial, time-wasting, endless hearings that might not be beneficial in their re-election bids.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not as if there\u2019s nothing to talk about. We\u2019re bombing Iraq and Syria. We\u2019re sending troops to African nations to try to fight Ebola. Russia is saber rattling. Our college-age kids are drowning in debt. We\u2019re experiencing wild weather swings, unprecedented flooding and wildfires. Millions of people are living below the poverty line and sinking faster every day.<\/p>\n

None of these pressing issues\u2014all of which scream for discussion and responsible, legislative solutions\u2014seems to bother our current Congressional representatives. What concerns them, apparently, is getting re-elected, so that they can do more nothing in the next Congressional session.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s another possibility: Earlier this week, in an unusual spasm of attention to its actual job, Congress voted<\/a> to authorize the U.S. to\u00a0 train and arm \u201cmoderate\u201d Syrian rebels and to conduct airstrikes against ISIL. The decision to flee Washington came right after that vote. At least one Republican Congressman has said that it could be advantageous to his party to give President Obama the authority to move ahead militarily in the Middle East and then to watch what happens:<\/p>\n

In what has been called \u201ca remarkable bit of honesty,\u201d Congressman Jack Kingston [R-GA] recently said:<\/a><\/p>\n

A lot of people would like to stay on the sideline and say, \u2018Just bomb the place and tell us about it later.\u2019 It\u2019s an election year. A lot of Democrats don\u2019t know how it would play in their party, and Republicans don\u2019t want to change anything. We like the path we\u2019re on now. We can denounce it if it goes bad, and praise it if it goes well and ask what took him so long.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The sudden \u201cschool\u2019s out\u201d move by Congress should be seen as an embarrassment and a fraud. And I\u2019m fairly sure that, if a Congressional sub-committee was investigating \u201cwelfare fraud,\u201d and “government corruption,” and found a worker with a salary of say, $174,000, who was not showing up for work, they\u2019d have a name for that: deadbeat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Ironic update, Sept. 20, 2014: Yesterday, Speaker of the House John Boehner said the following<\/a>, regarding work:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis idea that has been born, maybe out of the economy over the last couple years, that you know, I really don\u2019t have to work. I don\u2019t really want to do this. I think I\u2019d rather just sit around. This is a very sick idea for our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you wanted something you worked for it,\u201d Boehner said, adding, \u201cTrust me, I did it all.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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