Middleoftheroad
Active Member
I haven't seen anyone directly post on this, but I also did not go and look to far back.
But, a lot of people criticize Obama for the amount of vacation he takes, and there was a lot of criticism of Bush for this same thing, but it always seemed to me that congress in general has been a lot worse at it, so I did a real quick search and here are the results
Congress by the numbers
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996
Senate 158 191 184 190 138 159 133 167 149 173 141 162 143 153 132
House 127 159 118 164 101 140 110 133 123 142 135 137 119 132 122
The two most obvious trends to me are
1) the senate works consistently more days then the house
2) there is a cycle of low and high from even years (election years) and odd years (obviously non-election years)
And one more obvious note, with 365 days in a year, the most the house has been in session for was 164 days, just over 44% of the year
Edit: obviously my copy and pasting skills aren't up to par, but the information can be found here http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/cong_numbers.html
But, a lot of people criticize Obama for the amount of vacation he takes, and there was a lot of criticism of Bush for this same thing, but it always seemed to me that congress in general has been a lot worse at it, so I did a real quick search and here are the results
Congress by the numbers
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996
Senate 158 191 184 190 138 159 133 167 149 173 141 162 143 153 132
House 127 159 118 164 101 140 110 133 123 142 135 137 119 132 122
The two most obvious trends to me are
1) the senate works consistently more days then the house
2) there is a cycle of low and high from even years (election years) and odd years (obviously non-election years)
And one more obvious note, with 365 days in a year, the most the house has been in session for was 164 days, just over 44% of the year
Edit: obviously my copy and pasting skills aren't up to par, but the information can be found here http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/cong_numbers.html
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