This item just slays me.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is going to essentially work part-time in 2013. House leaders announced they plan to work only 15 Fridays next year. It amounts to a 30 percent decrease from the previous year.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/270419-house-cuts-back-on-fridays

Let’s ponder this for a moment. These are the folks who bemoan the slackers who refuse to put their shoulder to the wheel and work ‘til they drop. I think I actually have heard some of these individuals say words to that effect. Yet here they are, drawing six-figure salaries – that you and I pay – and they’re now saying they plan to be on the job four days a week for almost the entire upcoming calendar year.

And that doesn’t count the extended time off from debating, deliberating, conferencing and voting on policy matters on Capitol Hill. They’ll be taking time off from all that drudgery ostensibly to talk to constituents back home, collecting facts and opinions from their “bosses” – the people who pay the freight.

Let us not forget the myriad “factfinding” junkets, er, trips they’ll make to places overseas that may – or may not – be of vital national concern.

I know what you might be thinking. These folks work hard for their salary. It’s a thankless job, what with all the grief they have to endure while wrestling with troublesome issues. We voters don’t appreciate them, you might suggest.

I appreciate my member of Congress very much. Mac Thornberry, a Republican who took office within days of my arrival in the Texas Panhandle in early 1995, is a stand-up guy. He’s also a member of the party that runs the House of Reps and who goes along with the lightened workload. I don’t recall Mac ever talking badly about those allegedly lazy bums who refuse to work hard. But some of his fellow Republicans have said pretty distasteful things about their fellow Americans.

Last time I checked, the nation had some serious matters to resolve. The budget? Our long-term financial condition? Ongoing national security concerns? These matters require lots of attention and they should compel lawmakers to be on the job working non-stop until they’re all fixed.

What has become of leading by example?