Is this part of Norquist's 'drown the government in a bathtub' theory?

Congress is scheduled to meet for just 97 days this year, adjourning completely on October 7. That's the shortest session in 60 years.

"It's not too much to ask Congress to commit to spending at least half the year -- 26 weeks -- working full time, five days a week, thus providing at least a measure of the deliberation and attention to detail that are so lacking now," Norman Ornstein, a scholar on the history and workings of Congress for the American Enterprise Institute, has written.

[...]

The absence of oversight has direct effects, Ornstein says. Some of the problems buried in a massive bankruptcy bill that Congress passed last year could have been avoided with more time to review the bill, he said. Ornstein also believes the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina was worsened by the way Congress passed legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security, the sprawling agency responsible for coordinating government's response to natural disasters.

The prescription drug benefit is shaping up to be a disaster as well.

I mean, sure, there's a lot less work to do now that lobbyists write all the bills. And there are a lot of follks at home to shake down for cash. Maybe we should just give these guys a break and let them telecommute.

(via robotwisdom)