Today in fake problems: Senators complaining that they had to come back to Washington, cutting their holiday vacations short, to fix a problem entirely of their own stubborn creation:
But for once, those lawmakers were fully united, if only around their sadness and frustration at being stuck in Washington in a holiday week, peering over the edge of the fiscal abyss.
“This is no way to run things,” complained Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, who checked off the various backyard sports he longed to be playing with his children: football, soccer and some golf.
[…]
Mostly, people just looked mad. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, his tie slightly askew, looked as gloomy as the clouds hovering over the Capitol dome. “I didn’t realize how much I didn’t want to be here until I got here,” said Mr. Schumer, who had taken the red eye from San Francisco, where he had arrived only days earlier to visit his daughter.
Poor Senators, elected to a prestigious office, so despondent that they have to work like suckers, who couldn’t even be cheered by Taco Thursday (which is actually a thing on Capitol Hill). I shed one solitary tear for you, people who make $174,000 a year.
UPDATE: Full credit goes out to Arizona’s representation in the Senate, who both showed up this week (unlike some people…we’re looking at you, Barbara Boxer). Kyl’s appearance is especially notable, since he’s done with the gig in January.
This article appears in Dec 27, 2012 – Jan 2, 2013.



Actually, we would be better off if AZ’s delegation had not shown up.
That is so funny. But absolutely true.
replace them all with people that want to work!…join us at tucsonmedicalmarijuana.org
Why the hell did they leave without finishing the job? I would have been fired!
obama should shut up too and go to work ,sick of hearing about his vacation….
I was always sick and tired of hearing about Bush’s vacations.
ronjb
Most of the talk about President Obama’s vacation is by the right complaining about it.
President Bush during his term spent 1090 days on vacation. That’s 32% of the time. The most vacation time of any other president including FDR in his 12 year term. Obama has taken 5.2% and they’re begrudging even that.
And they’re complaining because they have a job, which they haven’t done up until this point ( unless that job was to bring us to this point.)?
Time for another election.