One of my favorite tools the Washington Post online offers is their Congressional vote information and – more importantly – feeds. Using one of a bazillion RSS readers – I’m partial to Google Reader these days – you can track the votes for your representatives with a specificity that is maybe a little unhealthy. The only thing they’re lacking is a quick & easy way to determine your rep if you’re not sure. Senators are easy but House districts can be redrawn. Thankfully you can go to Project Vote Smart and there’s a finder on the left hand side.
Aside from enabling obsessive-compulsive behavior, they also do some useful aggregation like breakouts for late-night votes or most voted on. There’s not-so-useful too, like vote by astrological sign which is only available in the per-vote breakdown.
Then there’s vote missers, which seems like a way for you to get your indignant on and see who failed to do their legislative duty by showing up.
Except that the rolls are filled with folks who are/were sick and out for an extended period or, in the case of the #1 spot, dead. I personally think that there’s a fair number of good reasons to miss work, but departing the land of the living is without question the top qualifying category. Thankfully the listings have notes to indicate these things, but I feel sorry for poor Charles Norwood who seems destined to hold that top spot through the 110th Congress. His attendance record isn’t going to get any better as the term continues. It’s an unfortunate reflection on a man who was at work through the day he died, based on his votes
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.
Hmm, guess I just did.
My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.
