Letter: "Keep In Mind Taxpayers Are Congress' Employer"

To the Editor:

When House Majority Leader Eric Cantor set the schedule for this House of Representatives, he said, "The goal for this Congress is to stress quality over quantity ... I intend to .... improve quality and deliver results."

In 251 working days, Rep. Cantor scheduled 111 days for House sessions; 10 days were holidays. During the remaining 130 days the House was in recess or taking "Constituent Work Weeks." Before the August recess, the earliest since 1960, Cantor said that he didn't expect the House to do anything until after the election.

It was reported in the Aug. 4, 2012, Minneapolis Star and Tribune that 151 laws were enacted by this congress. The 2012 share of this number is 65 laws; about two dozen of the 65 were to rename post offices, courthouses, wildlife refuges, etc. They did vote 33 times to repeal "Obamacare," even though it had no chance to pass the Senate. They did not extend the Bush tax cuts, they did not pass a Farm Bill, or a jobs bill. This Congress has been the least productive in history.

What would your employer say if you expected to take almost two weeks off for every two weeks you worked? Or that you should get your full salary for that time? Do you think that GOP Rep. Eric Paulsen turned back half of his $174,000 paychecks because he was too embarrassed to deposit it? NO! Eric has been a loyal member of Cantor and this do-nothing Congress!

We taxpayers are the employers. We might want to keep this in mind on Nov. 6.

Sincerely,

Grace McGarvie

Plymouth