By the Perspiration of Their Brow

U.S. Today has a story this a.m. about how few work days the U.S. House of Representatives has actually put in this year: "Through [last] Friday, the House was in session for 19 days [in 2006], compared with 33 for the Senate. If they stick to their current schedule -- including two weeks off in April, a week in May and July, plus all of August -- House members will spend 97 days in Washington this year." They took all of last week off for St. Patrick's Day.

"During the first two months of the year, House members logged a total of 47 hours in the Capitol. They took off almost the entire month of January...."

But remember how hard Madam Virginia Foxx said she was working? All behind-the-scenes stuff, very hush-hush. Plus she has to do laundry for the family, cook three full meals a day for her husband, pray, pull a dead leaf off the ivy...

And for breaking that kind of sweat, The Madam makes $165,200 a year.

I know the counter-argument, which used to be uttered mainly by the Right Wing, that we can be RELIEVED that those cats are on the job so little.