You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Government
Dem resolution would let 'mobile Congress' cast votes from home
2013-07-02
[THEHILL] A freshman House Democrat filed a resolution Friday that would allow members of Congress to vote remotely on bills from their home districts.

Rep. Eric Swalwell's (D-Calif.) proposal for a mobile Congress would amend House rules so politicians can take care of business using the latest communication technologies, including video conferencing.

Swalwell, whose district is located just north of the heart of Silicon Valley, hopes the amendment will update how Congress works and allow politicians to spend more time at home with their constituents.

The resolution would create a secure, remote voting system
...that the NSA could never, ever crack...
so members
...or Nancy Pelosi generously acting on their behalf...
could vote on bills that are being considered under a suspension of regular rules, meaning they require a two-thirds majority in the House to pass. The process is usually reserved for bills that are noncontroversial.

Additionally, the resolution would allow politicians and witnesses to participate in committee hearings held in Washington via videoconferencing technology. Rather than jetting back to Washington to attend a committee hearing, a House member could join the hearing with a tap of a button right from his or her district office.
Only if C-SPAN can show pictures of the hearings using potted plants...
Posted by:Fred

#11  Better yet - move the 'Capital' so that congress has to meet in some randomly selected congressional district every 2 years. And by random I mean truly random - if they find themselves meeting in some cow barn in Bumfuck County, Minnesota in January - then so be it.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2013-07-02 23:10  

#10  60 days a year. Some just pull 'duty' in the beltway while the rest are out. 12 months that 5 days a month, normal business week. The original Congress didn't work Sundays and wasn't considered adjourned to be away. 4 to 5 shifts of congresscritters in that month, place is covered.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2013-07-02 21:17  

#9  P2K - Congressmen travel during sessions, yes. But *Congress* can't. And this would dis-locate Congressional sessions. The plain text of Article 1, Section 5 seems to prohibit this resolution on its face. Makes a mockery of quorums, anyway. And it's already too damn easy for aides to vote for their senile senators, rolling them around like Mechanical Turks in wheelchairs...
Posted by: Mitch H.   2013-07-02 16:25  

#8  With executive orders, who needs Congress?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2013-07-02 14:27  

#7  No.

In person, in their seat. Some of these committee meetings are closed for good reason, never know who else would be sitting in the room.

Turn off the heat and AC, 60 days in the Spring and 60 days in the Fall to conduct business. That leaves 2/3rds of the year to make their under table deals - but everything must be FOIA, down the to receipt for damned waffles. Every phone call, every log-in, and I want to be able to spectate their games of Sim City.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2013-07-02 12:39  

#6  Too easy to hack, NO.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2013-07-02 10:46  

#5  Eric,

Nothing in there says they can't do work outside the Beltway. Congresscritters travel all the time during sessions. They've had hearings and other activities outside the Beltway for quite a while. Doesn't mean they have to adjourn when away. That's the whole issue surrounding the recess appointments and pro forma daily conduct of business. They just need to be in place to conduct formal business. Thus 60 days.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2013-07-02 09:33  

#4  Article I, Section 5:

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Posted by: Eric Jablow   2013-07-02 08:50  

#3  How about the citizenry?
Posted by: Perfesser   2013-07-02 08:47  

#2  Sounds like a good idea to me.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2013-07-02 08:25  

#1  Do it. In fact ban Congresscritters from spending more the 60 days a year within the Beltway. If nothing more it would force K Street Lobbying Corps to disperse to fifty states just to cover the Senators. Further it would make the 'representatives' immediately subjected to their real constituents within a days driving distance. It would also force the entrenched bureaucracy to travel beyond their fish bowl 'comfort' zone of the Potomac to conspire coordinate work, exposing them to other cultures and environments. "My God, I have to go to fly over country? Do I need shots?"
Posted by: Procopius2k   2013-07-02 07:39  

00:00