• I don’t understand the premise of frequent recesses, anymore. They seemed reasonable when people were traveling by horse and buggy and required 2-4 weeks to get back to their district, but now? In the era of phones and planes, why do they still deserve to get half the year off?

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      Well, it shouldn’t quite be half the year, but it makes sense to plan some official time to be back in your district. Your constituents shouldn’t have to travel to DC to see you in person.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        Since DC can get very hot and humid in the summers, I can see why you’d want to get the heck out of there in the days before AC.

      • But they’re mostly just dicking around elsewhere with the free time. The time isn’t bound to any structure. I wouldn’t doubt that we get less time with our representatives today than at the founding of the country, when dying of dysentery was a plausible end for a casual walk.

        • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          20 hours ago

          Also with telecommunications, we should reasonably be able to access our representatives wherever they are at all times. It’s not like we don’t live in a videoconference connected world, we absolutely do. We have phones, email, videoconferencing, and all manner of being able to directly contact our representatives without having to travel to Washington DC.

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      They still need all that time off to suck up to the donor class, though, don’t they? Because fuck you, is why.