Sleeping in Congress

Link: Sen. Boxer Rails Against Colleagues Sleeping In Their Office

In this video, Senator Boxer talks about how legislation has gone unpassed and that the Congressmen are abusing their power by sleeping in their offices. It is kind of a weird speech because she is trying to tie two things together that don't really go together too well.

Personally, I don't understand or see a correlation. First, I don't care whether a congressman sleeps in their office or not. There is no significant cost to the taxpayer. The only real argument they could make is that the Capitol is not for personal use. However, they aren't staying in the Capitol building, or their congressional offices because they have nowhere else to go and they are to cheap to buy their own place to stay. They are merely doing it because it is much easier to do and saves their time. I'm sure that the congressmen that do sleep in their offices would argue that it allows them to devote more time to working for the people and thus saving taxpayer dollars.

Based on the reasons that Congressmen stay in their offices should not affect the way that they vote on legislation. This is especially true when you are talking about a housing bill that would cost billions of dollars. It seems irrational to do such a thing and if a Congressmen was smart enough to get elected I would certainly hope that they would not vote based on something so silly as their sleeping practices. Also, based on the fact that Congressmen receive healthcare through the federal government because they are Congressmen does not mean that they should vote for every person in the whole country to have it merely because they receive it. I also do not believe that they are being "elitist" or hippocritical by not doing so voting for health care.

Senator Boxer must be confused. I do not see a basis to her argument and she lacks rational thought. I do not believe her speech persuaded me in any way toward her cause. The Congressmen do not represent themselves or their own practices when they vote. They represent millions of people who would otherwise not be represented without their congressional representation.