MAGI
06/09/07, 06:02 am
or how they get sucked into The Washington MESS!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060501702_5.html?nav=rss_politics
A true LOOK at what they face EVERY DAY! Of course being RICH could make it ALL SO MUCH EASIER.........................!
It's easy for us to sit back and criticize instead of writing and calling our leaders daily, to stop this by instituting Campaign finance REFORM!
House Rules
Freshman congressman Joe Courtney, elected by a margin of 83 votes, is learning that the first requirement of power is self-preservation
By Michael Leahy
Sunday, June 10, 2007; Page W12
When Joe Courtney, small-town Connecticut lawyer, knocked off a Republican incumbent in the closest 2006 congressional race in the country -- a margin of 83 votes out of more than 242,000 ballots cast -- he won more than a seat in the House of Representatives. He earned an ironic nickname: Landslide Joe. While in Washington, Landslide Joe stays in nearby Capitol Hill for a variety of reasons, among which is that he has no car in the city. He blew the engine of his old minivan back in Connecticut during the campaign, and he hasn't gotten around to replacing it. Not a fan of paying for cabs, he generally walks to places.
But even if he had a limousine, the Democratic freshman congressman's instinct for self-preservation would guarantee he didn't stray far. If not in his office or at the Capitol doing official business, he is regularly raising campaign money a few blocks away. His euphoria over making it to Congress has already been tempered by the recognition that his razor-thin 2006 victory reflects at once his own vulnerability and the fragility of his party's new congressional control.
It's not just that Courtney is a self-described "Irish fatalist." His career underscores the reality of national politics in an era where the major parties are stuck in bitter parity. Any slight advantage is hard won and easily lost. To even dream of staying in power takes a constant stream of campaign contributions, so that compiling legislative achievements and "representing constituents" must compete on a congressman's to-do list with never-ending fundraising, especially for a first-termer such as Courtney. Add to that the fickle nature of Connecticut voters, and you can understand when Courtney admits to running scared in politics. "You can't count on much," he says.
WITH DARKNESS FALLING ON A COLD WINTER NIGHT, COURTNEY IS FINALLY TRUDGING HOME. He lives alone in a small Washington basement apartment. It is about a 10-minute walk from his Capitol Hill office -- past the Library of Congress and around the corner from the Supreme Court, points of reference that, as he notes, make his abode sound undeservingly upscale. The front door has bars on it, and he's having difficulty getting his key in the lock because the light around the door is lousy. The place -- for which he pays $1,350 a month in rent -- is a cross between drab university housing and an economy motel room. One of its walls is made of red brick that, apparently, no one got around to drywalling.
There are only a few furnishings: a bed, a small couch, a chair for a solitary visitor, a TV, a tiny table. The table is covered with books, most of them about Iraq and national security. Courtney doesn't have a big staff to do prodigious research as some of the senior members do, which means that, like an average citizen, he must scour newspapers and other publications to keep up to date on the issues. He tosses his overcoat on the little couch. Mostly he views this ascetic place as a way station in which to shower and shave, decompress and crash for a few hours, before rushing back to his office by 7:15 the next morning.
PLEASE read the FULL article............
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060501702.html?nav=rss_politics
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060501702_5.html?nav=rss_politics
A true LOOK at what they face EVERY DAY! Of course being RICH could make it ALL SO MUCH EASIER.........................!
It's easy for us to sit back and criticize instead of writing and calling our leaders daily, to stop this by instituting Campaign finance REFORM!
House Rules
Freshman congressman Joe Courtney, elected by a margin of 83 votes, is learning that the first requirement of power is self-preservation
By Michael Leahy
Sunday, June 10, 2007; Page W12
When Joe Courtney, small-town Connecticut lawyer, knocked off a Republican incumbent in the closest 2006 congressional race in the country -- a margin of 83 votes out of more than 242,000 ballots cast -- he won more than a seat in the House of Representatives. He earned an ironic nickname: Landslide Joe. While in Washington, Landslide Joe stays in nearby Capitol Hill for a variety of reasons, among which is that he has no car in the city. He blew the engine of his old minivan back in Connecticut during the campaign, and he hasn't gotten around to replacing it. Not a fan of paying for cabs, he generally walks to places.
But even if he had a limousine, the Democratic freshman congressman's instinct for self-preservation would guarantee he didn't stray far. If not in his office or at the Capitol doing official business, he is regularly raising campaign money a few blocks away. His euphoria over making it to Congress has already been tempered by the recognition that his razor-thin 2006 victory reflects at once his own vulnerability and the fragility of his party's new congressional control.
It's not just that Courtney is a self-described "Irish fatalist." His career underscores the reality of national politics in an era where the major parties are stuck in bitter parity. Any slight advantage is hard won and easily lost. To even dream of staying in power takes a constant stream of campaign contributions, so that compiling legislative achievements and "representing constituents" must compete on a congressman's to-do list with never-ending fundraising, especially for a first-termer such as Courtney. Add to that the fickle nature of Connecticut voters, and you can understand when Courtney admits to running scared in politics. "You can't count on much," he says.
WITH DARKNESS FALLING ON A COLD WINTER NIGHT, COURTNEY IS FINALLY TRUDGING HOME. He lives alone in a small Washington basement apartment. It is about a 10-minute walk from his Capitol Hill office -- past the Library of Congress and around the corner from the Supreme Court, points of reference that, as he notes, make his abode sound undeservingly upscale. The front door has bars on it, and he's having difficulty getting his key in the lock because the light around the door is lousy. The place -- for which he pays $1,350 a month in rent -- is a cross between drab university housing and an economy motel room. One of its walls is made of red brick that, apparently, no one got around to drywalling.
There are only a few furnishings: a bed, a small couch, a chair for a solitary visitor, a TV, a tiny table. The table is covered with books, most of them about Iraq and national security. Courtney doesn't have a big staff to do prodigious research as some of the senior members do, which means that, like an average citizen, he must scour newspapers and other publications to keep up to date on the issues. He tosses his overcoat on the little couch. Mostly he views this ascetic place as a way station in which to shower and shave, decompress and crash for a few hours, before rushing back to his office by 7:15 the next morning.
PLEASE read the FULL article............
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060501702.html?nav=rss_politics