Who knew Congress was so religious?
I was home on Monday listening to NPR when the word came out that the bailout bill failed to pass in the House. It was almost fascinating, listening to NPR attempt to get the latest word on why the bill failed, switching frantically from BBC to CNN, then finally giving up and going back to their original broadcast. When I heard later that there would be no further immediate action from Congress due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday, two things immediately came to mind:
1) Really? There are that many Jews in Congress? 2) Didn't the President say our need for a bill was dire? I could have sworn that he had the authority to make Congress come back and keep on working in case of emergency... where did I get that idea? Oh yeah...
ARTICLE II, SECTION 3 OF THE FRIGGIN' CONSTITUTION!
Law scholars, help me out, would you? Doesn't the President have the authority to convene Congress under extraordinary circumstances? If so, would this not have constituted an extraordinary circumstance? Weren't we meant to crater or implode or get out our hobo-bags and get to riding the freight-cars to Canada or something if this bill hadn't passed by two days ago?
Oh yeah, wait, none of those things happened. And the Dow is rallying back; having panicked on Monday like a nineteen fifties housewife upon seeing a mouse, the stock market is catching its breath, slowly stepping off the chair, reaching for the bottle of cooking sherry it uses to calm its nerves, and waiting for the husband to come home to take care of the scary animal. It's kind of interesting, though, that the unregulated market itself made this mess, and is looking for the American taxpayer to be the husband who bravely takes care of the scary animal and makes everything better. Who else thinks that, since the market didn't fall down to the ninth circle of hell and at least some of us still have jobs, the urgency to pass this particular bill is something of a scam job?
It's kind of cool to know that both Jon Stewart and Dennis Kucinich agree with me. Check out Tuesday's episode of The Daily Show (avaiable on thedailyshow.com) and Tuesday's episode of The Rachel Maddow show (available at msnbc.com) to see why.
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Uh, there are more than 40 Jewish members of the House, representing states from Massacusetts to California...and places like Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Nevada.
And there are something like ten Jewish Senators, including both Senators from California and both from Wisconsin.
Congress has taken off for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for many decades.
If you have a problem with Jews, why don't you come right out and say it?
October 1, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Homer J: Thank you for educating me on the exact number of Jewish people in Congress. I really had no idea. But please, don't be so quick to pull out that anti-Semite gun. That gun tends to have a hair trigger, know what I mean? ...You probably don't, do you?
October 2, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think questioning a recess for a holiday that only 2% of Americans celebrate is anti-semitic. Frankly, I'm shocked more people aren’t raising it. They must be afraid of being called Jew haters. Not to mention, if it was so important for them to get home and eat their honey and apples, they could go, and leave the rest of congress at work. It wouldn't be the first time the entirety of congress wasn't present and accounted for.
Now, as long as we are on the subject, unless you are Hasidic or Orthodox, which none of the Jewish members of Congress are, you are permitted to work on the Sabbath and High Holidays. Even Orthodox Jews in vital professions, such as doctors, are permitted to work on days of rest. In fact, it's considered a bad thing for a doctor to refuse to help someone simply because it's a holiday. Now, given that the Talmud hasn't really been updated in a couple thousand years regarding this subject, and that it is considered virtuous to question the many edicts contained in the Talmud and use past resolutions to resolve sticky modern issues such as this, I'm going to go ahead and say that being one of the leaders of an entire country qualifies as a vital profession, and the economy trying to collapse a pretty good reason for working. King David didn't get Rosh Ha-Shana off, neither should Congressman Rothman (D-NJ).
P.S. - There are 13 Jewish Senators and 30 Jewish Representatives.
October 2, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Majack: Thank you, that's exactly the point I was making. Not that Rosh Hashanah isn't important enough to take time off, but that there was a logic gap in taking time off for ANY holiday in such a "crisis." A point that Jon Stewart makes rather eloquently (in a really angry sort of way) on his Tuesday night broadcast.
PS: Majack? Yeah? Is this MY Majack?
October 2, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink